Do I ship it?

GamesPvPPvP + Science

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Science PvP game?

PvP + Science

Only 9 developers shipped a Science PvP 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, Screeps: Arena, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 23 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 $450, ×0.3 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150. 23 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.8 per shipper, while revenue is up 8505% on the market.

Deciding numbers: median 0.3 times the market baseline, revenue up 8505% on the market, 23 announced, ×3.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
PvP + Science
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 9
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $105k → $2.7M → $748 → $29k
Outcomes for PvP + Science: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 9
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $449 (exactly $449)
Top 25% $29k (exactly $29,385)
Top 5% $63k (exactly $62,968)
Developers, 2 yr 9
Released games 51
Announced 23
Effort 8 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $11.99

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 8505% on the market, supply 100% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 35%, 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
Science
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
Price point
$11.99 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 $39.99 or above; the middle game at $11.99.

The top 10 games average 56% positive over 19,793 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $150, median $450, 1 in 4 over $29k, 1 in 20 over $62k.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. 23 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.8 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

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Forza Motorsport older $69.99 12,148 51% 364k $26M (exactly $25,507,156) Turn 10
Star Trek: Infinite older $29.99 3,030 41% 91k $2.7M (exactly $2,726,091) Nimble Giant Entertainment
Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection Vol. 1 older $39.99 1,290 87% 39k $1.5M (exactly $1,547,613) CAPCOM Co., Ltd.
Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection Vol. 2 older $39.99 521 87% 16k $625k (exactly $625,044) CAPCOM Co., Ltd.
Nexus 5X older $14.99 884 90% 27k $398k (exactly $397,535) Whatboy Games
Homebrew - Patent Unknown · EA older $14.99 828 71% 25k $372k (exactly $372,352) Copybugpaste
Who Wants To Be A Millionaire older $29.99 405 52% 12k $364k (exactly $364,378) Appeal Studios, Balio Studio
Evolution Board Game older $14.99 348 81% 10k $156k (exactly $156,496) North Star Digital Studios
Brain Show: Party Game older $14.99 234 73% 7.0k $105k (exactly $105,230) Simplicity Games
Screeps: Arena $19.99 105 82% 3.2k $63k (exactly $62,968) Screeps, LLC
Evolve Lab · EA $14.99 69 94% 2.1k $31k (exactly $31,029) SiRen Games
Nature Game System $19.99 49 73% 1.5k $29k (exactly $29,385) North Star Digital Games
Times Trials $11.99 20 100% 600 $7.2k (exactly $7,194) Arc-Fy
Basket Bots $4.99 3 66% 90 $449 (exactly $449) Thibaud Reygner
SpaceBell · EA $8.99 1 100% 30 $270 (exactly $270) WILLSWAYSTUDIOS
Math4TopDogs $4.99 1 100% 30 $150 (exactly $150) Mathsandcau
Chronicle Archive - Japan · EA $24.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) Yugijitsu LLC
Web Wars $4.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) Phantom Jelly Studio

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