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Should I ship a PvP Level Editor game?
PvP + Level Editor
Of 75 developers who shipped a PvP Level Editor game in the last 2 years: 3 in 10 made under est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 4 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 20 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 179 more are announced, ×3.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.8k, ×1.2 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $240; 1 in 20 cleared $410k, ×274 the market median. Revenue is up 180% on the market; 179 games are announced against 50 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $240 (exactly $240) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.8k (exactly $1,799) |
| Top 25% | $9.8k (exactly $9,828) |
| Top 5% | $410k (exactly $410,086) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 75 |
| Released games | 276 |
| Announced | 179 |
| Effort | 8 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
momentum: how a niche's revenue percentiles and developer count moved between two equal, adjacent periods, divided by the market's own move. See method., 12 months: revenue up 180% on the market, supply 90% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 25%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- PvP
- effort 8 / 10 · low · authoritative servers, latency compensation, cheating
- Level Editor
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 8 / 10 · online systems, open world
- Systems
- PvP, Level Editor; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Co-op, Online Co-Op
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Colorful, Funny, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 73% positive over 19,948 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $240. 7 in 10 of the 33 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 179 games are announced against 50 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.6 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
PvP with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + BaseballFair
- + TransportationFair
- + BasketballFair
- + Football (American)Fair
- + BikesFair
- + GolfFair
- + World War IFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + BilliardsFair
- + TennisLong shot
- + TypingLong shot
- + SpellingLong shot
Comparable games
Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition 2020 · $39M 
Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront 2021 · $34M 
Besiege 2020 · $22M 
Command & Conquer™ Remastered Collection 2020 · $19M 
Age of Mythology: Retold 2024 · $19M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition | older | $34.99 | 37,093 84% | 1.1M | $39M (exactly $38,936,522) | World's Edge, Tantalus Media, Forgotten… (World's Edge, Tantalus Media, Forgotten Empires) |
| | Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront | older | $34.99 | 32,183 85% | 965k | $34M (exactly $33,782,495) | Barbedwire Studios, Digitalmindsoft |
| | Besiege | older | $14.99 | 48,045 95% | 1.4M | $22M (exactly $21,605,836) | Spiderling Studios |
| | Command & Conquer™ Remastered Collection | older | $19.99 | 31,503 90% | 945k | $19M (exactly $18,892,349) | Petroglyph, Lemon Sky Studios |
| | Age of Mythology: Retold | older | $29.99 | 20,943 90% | 628k | $19M (exactly $18,842,417) | World's Edge, Forgotten Empires, Tantal… (World's Edge, Forgotten Empires, Tantalus Media, CaptureAge, Virtuos Games) |
 | Ultimate Chicken Horse | older | $14.99 | 41,060 95% | 1.2M | $18M (exactly $18,464,682) | Clever Endeavour Games |
 | DUSK | older | $19.99 | 22,073 97% | 662k | $13M (exactly $13,237,178) | David Szymanski |
 | Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Definitive Edition | $29.99 | 12,286 85% | 369k | $11M (exactly $11,053,714) | Relic Entertainment | |
 | Men of War II | older | $44.99 | 5,614 60% | 168k | $7.6M (exactly $7,577,216) | Best Way |
 | Mindustry | older | $9.99 | 24,608 95% | 738k | $7.4M (exactly $7,375,018) | AnukenDev |
 | s&box | $9.99 | 5,118 46% | 154k | $1.5M (exactly $1,533,865) | Facepunch Studios | |
 | Wreckreation | $39.99 | 360 63% | 11k | $432k (exactly $431,892) | Three Fields Entertainment | |
 | Warside | $24.99 | 547 68% | 16k | $410k (exactly $410,086) | LAVABIRD | |
 | Age of Clicks | · EA | $12.99 | 472 65% | 14k | $184k (exactly $183,938) | David Ius |
 | States of Power | $11.99 | 344 88% | 10k | $124k (exactly $123,737) | Sarunas | |
 | Ultimate Sheep Raccoon | $19.99 | 205 45% | 6.2k | $123k (exactly $122,938) | Clever Endeavour Games | |
 | Rocket Boots Mania | $14.99 | 229 99% | 6.9k | $103k (exactly $102,981) | Luma Play | |
 | Summer Islands | $14.99 | 190 81% | 5.7k | $85k (exactly $85,443) | Marttalin Games | |
 | World of Football | · EA | $9.99 | 197 81% | 5.9k | $59k (exactly $59,041) | Vault Game Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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