Games › PvP › PvP + Political Sim
Should I ship a PvP Political Sim?
PvP + Political Sim
Only 18 developers shipped a PvP Political Sim in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Sid Meier's Civilization VII, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 29 more are announced, ×2.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $6.0k, ×4.0 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $900; 1 in 20 cleared $94M, ×62779 the market median. Revenue is down 90% on the market; 29 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $899 (exactly $899) |
|---|---|
| Median | $6.0k (exactly $5,992) |
| Top 25% | $66k (exactly $66,249) |
| Top 5% | $94M (exactly $94,043,463) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 18 |
| Released games | 55 |
| Announced | 29 |
| Effort | 8 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 down 90% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 24%, 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
- Political Sim
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 8 / 10 · online systems, open world
- Systems
- PvP, Political Sim; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Strategy, Grand Strategy
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 51% positive over 48,898 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $900. 7 in 10 of the 13 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 29 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 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
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Sid Meier's Civilization VII | $69.99 | 44,789 48% | 1.3M | $94M (exactly $94,043,463) | Firaxis Games | |
| | Dummynation | older | $11.99 | 3,127 88% | 94k | $1.1M (exactly $1,124,782) | Alejandro Hernández Ferrero |
| | Age of History 2: Definitive Edition | $9.99 | 2,600 83% | 78k | $779k (exactly $779,220) | Łukasz Jakowski | |
| | Supreme Ruler Ultimate | older | $19.99 | 1,169 77% | 35k | $701k (exactly $701,049) | BattleGoat Studios |
| | Solar Nations 2 | · EA | $14.99 | 609 85% | 18k | $274k (exactly $273,867) | Flomgus Games |
| | Project Planet - Earth vs Humanity | older | $24.99 | 361 78% | 11k | $271k (exactly $270,642) | Fifth Harbour Studios |
| | Age of Clicks | · EA | $12.99 | 472 65% | 14k | $184k (exactly $183,938) | David Ius |
| | The Political Machine 2024 | older | $19.99 | 255 74% | 7.7k | $153k (exactly $152,924) | Stardock Entertainment |
| | 4th Generation Warfare | older | $29.99 | 129 59% | 3.9k | $116k (exactly $116,061) | Eversim |
| | SGS NATO's Nightmare | older | $34.99 | 107 70% | 3.2k | $112k (exactly $112,318) | Strategy Game Studio |
| | Maestro's Cold War 2 | $12.99 | 170 92% | 5.1k | $66k (exactly $66,249) | Maestro Cinetik | |
| | Emperor of the Fading Suns Enhanced | $9.99 | 174 95% | 5.2k | $52k (exactly $52,148) | Holistic Design, Inc. | |
| | SGS Imjin War | $29.99 | 29 65% | 870 | $26k (exactly $26,091) | Strategy Game Studio | |
| | SGS Spain at War | $29.99 | 25 88% | 750 | $22k (exactly $22,492) | Strategy Game Studio, Headquarter Warga… (Strategy Game Studio, Headquarter Wargames) | |
| | Nuice Industries | · EA | $7.99 | 25 96% | 750 | $6.0k (exactly $5,992) | CastleWind |
| | LouveSystems' Realms | $12.99 | 5 100% | 150 | $1.9k (exactly $1,948) | LouveSystems |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.