Games › PvP › PvP + Psychological Horror
Should I ship a Psychological-Horror PvP game?
PvP + Psychological Horror
Of 85 developers who shipped a Psychological-Horror 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.. 165 more are announced, ×3.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.7k, ×1.8 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $1.7M, ×1138 the market median. Revenue is up 270% on the market; 165 games are announced against 44 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $598 (exactly $598) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.7k (exactly $2,695) |
| Top 25% | $58k (exactly $58,301) |
| Top 5% | $1.7M (exactly $1,704,094) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 85 |
| Released games | 257 |
| Announced | 165 |
| Effort | 8 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $5.99 |
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 270% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 26%, 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
- Psychological Horror
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 8 / 10 · online systems, open world
- Systems
- PvP; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Online Co-Op, Survival Horror
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, 3D, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 66% positive over 135,493 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $600. 7 in 10 of the 49 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 165 games are announced against 44 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
PvP with a different setting or mood, 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
Escape from Tarkov 2025 · $84M 
Marathon 2026 · $54M 
Gorilla Tag 2023 · $32M 
Halloween: The Game 2026 · $14M 
BIGFOOT 2017 · EA · $11M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Escape from Tarkov | $49.99 | 55,824 49% | 1.7M | $84M (exactly $83,719,253) | Battlestate Games | |
| | Marathon | $39.99 | 44,919 81% | 1.3M | $54M (exactly $53,889,324) | Bungie | |
| | Gorilla Tag | older | $19.99 | 52,637 93% | 1.6M | $32M (exactly $31,566,409) | Another Axiom Inc. |
| | Halloween: The Game | $39.99 | 11,868 68% | 356k | $14M (exactly $14,238,040) | IllFonic | |
| | BIGFOOT | · EA older | $19.99 | 17,818 83% | 535k | $11M (exactly $10,685,455) | CyberLight Game Studio |
 | The Texas Chain Saw Massacre | older | $14.99 | 19,731 68% | 592k | $8.9M (exactly $8,873,031) | Sumo Digital |
 | Call of Duty®: Vanguard | older | $59.99 | 4,172 67% | 125k | $7.5M (exactly $7,508,348) | Sledgehammer Games, Treyarch, High Moon… (Sledgehammer Games, Treyarch, High Moon Studios, Raven Software, Beenox, Demonware) |
 | Jujutsu Kaisen Cursed Clash | older | $59.99 | 3,051 60% | 92k | $5.5M (exactly $5,490,885) | Byking Inc. |
 | Total War: PHARAOH | older | $29.99 | 3,622 63% | 109k | $3.3M (exactly $3,258,713) | CREATIVE ASSEMBLY |
 | Minecraft Legends | older | $39.99 | 2,621 59% | 79k | $3.1M (exactly $3,144,414) | Mojang Studios, Blackbird Interactive |
 | MIMESIS | · EA | $9.99 | 8,396 84% | 252k | $2.5M (exactly $2,516,281) | ReLU Games, Inc. |
 | ANEURISM IV | $9.99 | 5,686 75% | 171k | $1.7M (exactly $1,704,094) | Vellocet | |
 | MY HERO ACADEMIA: All’s Justice | $59.99 | 765 63% | 23k | $1.4M (exactly $1,376,770) | Byking Inc. | |
 | Carnival Hunt | · EA | $19.99 | 2,092 63% | 63k | $1.3M (exactly $1,254,572) | Crytivo, Beer Night Studio |
 | ICBM: Escalation | $29.99 | 1,248 86% | 37k | $1.1M (exactly $1,122,826) | SoftWarWare | |
 | Machine Party | $7.99 | 4,199 87% | 126k | $1.0M (exactly $1,006,500) | Mike Klubnika, GDeavid | |
 | Pro Cycling Manager 25 | $39.99 | 496 75% | 15k | $595k (exactly $595,051) | Cyanide Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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