Do I ship it?

Games › PvP › PvP + Platformer

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a PvP Platformer?

PvP + Platformer

Of 184 developers who shipped a PvP Platformer 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.. 342 more are announced, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $480, ×0.3 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $120. 342 games are announced against 109 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 per shipper, while revenue is up 60% on the market.

Deciding numbers: median 0.3 times the market baseline, revenue up 60% on the market, 342 announced, ×3.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
PvP + Platformer
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 184
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $299 → $1.9k → $2.7k → $599 → $628 → $390 → $483 (still earning) → $450 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for PvP + Platformer: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 184
Bottom 30% $119 (exactly $119)
Median $483 (exactly $483)
Top 25% $2.6k (exactly $2,567)
Top 5% $49k (exactly $48,957)
Developers, 2 yr 184
Released games 641
Announced 342
Effort 8 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $4.99

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 60% on the market, supply 45% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 26%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

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
Platformer
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
8 / 10 · online systems, open world
Systems
PvP, Platformer; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, 2D Platformer, Local Multiplayer
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Funny, 2D, Colorful
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 80% positive over 12,803 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $120, median $480, 1 in 4 over $2.5k, 1 in 20 over $48k.

3 in 10 developers made under $120. 9 in 10 of the 106 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 342 games are announced against 109 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

PvP with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + BaseballFair6 devs · median $7.6k · 9 announced
  2. + TransportationFair10 devs · median $5.7k · 11 announced
  3. + BasketballFair25 devs · median $2.6k · 28 announced
  4. + Football (American)Fair17 devs · median $1.8k · 12 announced
  5. + BikesFair10 devs · median $1.5k · 7 announced
  6. + GolfFair29 devs · median $1.4k · 34 announced
  7. + World War IFair12 devs · median $1.3k · 14 announced
  8. + IncrementalFair36 devs · median $1.2k · 48 announced
  9. + BilliardsFair18 devs · median $1.1k · 12 announced
  10. + TennisLong shot17 devs · median $899 · 15 announced
  11. + TypingLong shot28 devs · median $719 · 31 announced
  12. + SpellingLong shot14 devs · median $719 · 17 announced

All 247 pairs on the PvP page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Gorilla Tag 2023 · $32M Ultimate Chicken Horse 2016 · $18M Spelunky 2 2020 · $12M ROUNDS 2021 · $6.4M Rivals of Aether II 2024 · $6.3M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Gorilla Tag older $19.99 52,637 93% 1.6M $32M (exactly $31,566,409) Another Axiom Inc.
Ultimate Chicken Horse older $14.99 41,060 95% 1.2M $18M (exactly $18,464,682) Clever Endeavour Games
Spelunky 2 older $19.99 19,736 93% 592k $12M (exactly $11,835,679) Mossmouth, BlitWorks
ROUNDS older $5.99 35,738 95% 1.1M $6.4M (exactly $6,422,119) Landfall
Rivals of Aether II $29.99 6,980 78% 209k $6.3M (exactly $6,279,906) Aether Studios
Monster Sanctuary older $19.99 10,416 91% 312k $6.2M (exactly $6,246,475) moi rai games
Super Bunny Man older $14.99 10,143 85% 304k $4.6M (exactly $4,561,307) Catobyte
Hot Lava older $19.99 5,335 92% 160k $3.2M (exactly $3,199,399) Klei Entertainment
Nidhogg older $9.99 5,717 90% 172k $1.7M (exactly $1,713,385) Messhof
Warhammer 40,000: Shootas, Blood & Teef older $19.99 2,586 87% 78k $1.6M (exactly $1,550,824) Rogueside
JUMP KING QUEST $14.99 1,202 88% 36k $541k (exactly $540,539) Nexile
Last Train Outta' Wormtown $11.99 1,453 96% 44k $523k (exactly $522,644) Get(Color) Games
Level Devil $6.99 1,304 91% 39k $273k (exactly $273,449) Unept
SpeedRunners 2: King of Speed $9.99 447 55% 13k $134k (exactly $133,966) Fair Play Labs
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
Portal Fantasy $14.99 210 62% 6.3k $94k (exactly $94,437) Portal Fantasy
Boat Together $4.99 364 76% 11k $54k (exactly $54,491) Beaked Games
4Wheel Challenge $3.99 409 57% 12k $49k (exactly $48,957) LJ3D STUDIOS

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.