Do I ship it?

Games › PvP › PvP + Psychological

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Psychological PvP game?

PvP + Psychological

Of 53 developers who shipped a Psychological PvP 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.. 81 more are announced, ×2.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $900, ×0.6 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300. 81 games are announced against 37 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.2 per shipper, while revenue is up 80% on the market.

Deciding numbers: median 0.6 times the market baseline, revenue up 80% on the market, 81 announced, ×2.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
PvP + Psychological
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 53
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $14k → $1.2k → $599 → $1.4k → $3.8k → $897 (still earning) → $120 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for PvP + Psychological: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 53
Bottom 30% $299 (exactly $299)
Median $898 (exactly $898)
Top 25% $13k (exactly $13,486)
Top 5% $789k (exactly $788,919)
Developers, 2 yr 53
Released games 114
Announced 81
Effort 8 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $6.66

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 80% on the market, supply 130% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 23%, 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
Psychological
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; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Co-op, Online Co-Op
Price point
$6.66 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person, Funny
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $6.66.

The top 10 games average 72% positive over 17,584 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $300, median $900, 1 in 4 over $13k, 1 in 20 over $780k.

3 in 10 developers made under $300. 8 in 10 of the 18 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 81 games are announced against 37 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.2 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

PvP with a different setting or mood, 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

Among Us 2018 · $99M Call of Duty®: Black Ops 7 2025 · $9.1M 5D Chess With Multiverse Time Travel 2020 · $2.9M Among Us 3D 2025 · $916k Feign 2025 · $789k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Among Us older $4.99 659,003 92% 20M $99M (exactly $98,652,749) Innersloth
Call of Duty®: Black Ops 7 $69.99 4,344 37% 130k $9.1M (exactly $9,121,097) Treyarch, Raven Software, Beenox, High… (Treyarch, Raven Software, Beenox, High Moon Studios, Sledgehammer Games, Infinity Ward, Activision Shanghai, Demonware)
5D Chess With Multiverse Time Travel older $11.99 8,097 96% 243k $2.9M (exactly $2,912,491) Conor Petersen, Thunkspace, LLC
Among Us 3D $9.99 3,056 72% 92k $916k (exactly $915,883) Schell Games, Innersloth
Feign $4.99 5,270 91% 158k $789k (exactly $788,919) Teneke Kafalar
Among Us 3D: VR older $9.99 2,449 75% 73k $734k (exactly $733,965) Schell Games, Innersloth, Robot Teddy
DEATH NOTE Killer Within $9.99 2,324 84% 70k $697k (exactly $696,503) Grounding Inc.
Fear Therapy · EA older $4.99 3,630 68% 109k $543k (exactly $543,411) Black Flag Studios
Project Planet - Earth vs Humanity older $24.99 361 78% 11k $271k (exactly $270,642) Fifth Harbour Studios
The Backrooms: Survival older $9.99 881 82% 26k $264k (exactly $264,036) RE:CODE
It Has My Face $9.99 608 88% 18k $182k (exactly $182,218) NightByte Games
CUFFBUST $9.99 508 52% 15k $152k (exactly $152,248) Two Star Games
SIDE EFFECTS $4.99 858 83% 26k $128k (exactly $128,443) hirohun, Mr.Pootsley, Jaybooty, Lofar42
WISE GUYS · EA $8.99 194 90% 5.8k $52k (exactly $52,322) StonieDude
Cut That Wire $6.99 243 84% 7.3k $51k (exactly $50,957) WakaStudio
Bonesaw $6.66 179 89% 5.4k $36k (exactly $35,764) Blood Pact Studios

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