Do I ship it?

GamesPvPPvP + Real-Time

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a PvP Real-Time game?

PvP + Real-Time

Only 9 developers shipped a PvP Real-Time game 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, Tempest Rising, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 20 more are announced, ×6.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 8 / 10 build.

Only 3 developers shipped this in the last year, under the 5 a verdict needs; over 2 years the middle one made $20k against a market of $1.5k. 20 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 13.2 times the market baseline, revenue flat on the market, 20 announced, ×6.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
PvP + Real-Time
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 9

not enough cohorts to draw

Outcomes for PvP + Real-Time: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 9
Bottom 30% $16k (exactly $15,584)
Median $20k (exactly $19,787)
Top 25% $60k (exactly $60,260)
Top 5% $12M (exactly $11,770,257)
Developers, 2 yr 9
Released games 52
Announced 20
Effort 8 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $14.99

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 flat on the market, supply 50% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 25%, 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
Real-Time
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
8 / 10 · online systems, open world
Systems
PvP, Real-Time
Price point
$14.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

Fewer than 10 games in the last 2 years; sentiment and price figures use the all window.

The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 80% positive over 44,227 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $16k, median $20k, 1 in 4 over $60k, 1 in 20 over $11M.

3 in 10 developers made under $16k. 6 in 10 of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 20 games are announced against 3 developers who shipped in the last year, ×6.7 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

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Tempest Rising $39.99 9,811 87% 294k $12M (exactly $11,770,257) Slipgate Ironworks™
Sins of a Solar Empire II older $49.99 7,147 83% 214k $11M (exactly $10,718,356) Ironclad Games Corporation, Stardock En… (Ironclad Games Corporation, Stardock Entertainment)
Iron Harvest older $29.99 11,682 74% 350k $11M (exactly $10,510,295) KING Art
Airships: Conquer the Skies older $24.99 6,197 95% 186k $4.6M (exactly $4,645,891) David Stark
Blitzkrieg 3 older $9.99 5,161 52% 155k $1.5M (exactly $1,546,752) Nival
BattleGroupVR older $24.99 858 92% 26k $643k (exactly $643,243) SpaceOwl Games
Original War older $9.99 1,812 94% 54k $543k (exactly $543,056) Altar Games
A Year Of Rain older $14.99 503 42% 15k $226k (exactly $226,199) Daedalic Entertainment
Sins of a Solar Empire: Trinity® older $9.99 687 78% 21k $206k (exactly $205,894) Ironclad Games Corporation, Stardock En… (Ironclad Games Corporation, Stardock Entertainment)
TFC: The Fertile Crescent older $10.99 369 88% 11k $122k (exactly $121,659) Wield Interactive
Warhammer: Mark of Chaos - Gold Edition (Classic) $14.99 188 96% 5.6k $85k (exactly $84,544) Black Hole Entertainment
Moduwar · EA $14.99 134 88% 4.0k $60k (exactly $60,260) Biohex Studios
Battlefall: State of Conflict · EA $19.99 52 63% 1.6k $31k (exactly $31,184) Kyoto Video Game Concern
Stardust Exile $14.99 44 70% 1.3k $20k (exactly $19,787) Apseren
TFC2: The Fertile Crescent 2 - Collapse of The Bronze Age · EA $17.99 33 81% 990 $18k (exactly $17,810) Wield Interactive
Tactical Warfare $9.99 52 67% 1.6k $16k (exactly $15,584) Mizrab
Fleet Hunters $4.99 13 100% 390 $1.9k (exactly $1,946) Gnarly Labs SRL
Edge Of Extinction $4.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) Azulon Studios

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