Do I ship it?

Games › PvP › PvP + Score Attack

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a PvP Score Attack game?

PvP + Score Attack

Of 170 developers who shipped a PvP Score Attack 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.. 231 more are announced, ×2.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 8 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $360 in the last 2 years and $450 over 4, against a market of $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build. 112 developers shipped in the last year and 231 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.2 times the market baseline, revenue up 50% on the market, 231 announced, ×2.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
PvP + Score Attack
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 170
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $299 → $1.6k → $748 → $479 → $419 → $539 → $748 (still earning) → $210 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for PvP + Score Attack: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 170
Bottom 30% $60 (exactly $60)
Median $359 (exactly $359)
Top 25% $1.6k (exactly $1,647)
Top 5% $16k (exactly $15,584)
Developers, 2 yr 170
Released games 502
Announced 231
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 50% on the market, supply 90% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 17%, 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
Score Attack
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, Score Attack; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Arcade, Local Multiplayer
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Colorful, 2D, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 83% positive over 5,486 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $60, median $360, 1 in 4 over $1.6k, 1 in 20 over $15k.

3 in 10 developers made under $60. 9 in 10 of the 87 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 231 games are announced against 112 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 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

Counter-Strike 2000 · $51M Tetris® Effect: Connected 2021 · $10M Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles 2 2025 · $5.2M WRC 8 FIA World Rally Championship 2020 · $1.8M Element TD 2 - Tower Defense 2021 · $1.3M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Counter-Strike older $9.99 169,780 96% 5.1M $51M (exactly $50,883,066) Valve
Tetris® Effect: Connected older $39.99 8,429 94% 253k $10M (exactly $10,112,271) Monstars Inc., Resonair, Stage Games
Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles 2 $59.99 2,879 83% 86k $5.2M (exactly $5,181,336) CyberConnect2
WRC 8 FIA World Rally Championship older $29.99 2,007 74% 60k $1.8M (exactly $1,805,698) KT Racing
Element TD 2 - Tower Defense older $14.99 2,848 90% 85k $1.3M (exactly $1,280,746) Element Studios
Lumines Arise $39.99 848 94% 25k $1.0M (exactly $1,017,346) Enhance, Monstars Inc.
Hotshot Racing older $19.99 1,304 78% 39k $782k (exactly $782,009) Sumo Digital Ltd, Lucky Mountain Games
Arcade Paradise older $19.99 1,213 85% 36k $727k (exactly $727,436) Nosebleed Interactive
Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration older $39.99 457 92% 14k $548k (exactly $548,263) Digital Eclipse
TETRIS® THE GRAND MASTER 4 -ABSOLUTE EYE- $24.99 610 87% 18k $457k (exactly $457,317) ARIKA
Spirit Swap: Lofi Beats to Match-3 To $19.99 239 94% 7.2k $143k (exactly $143,328) Soft Not Weak, LLC
Mimic Party $6.99 430 46% 13k $90k (exactly $90,171) FoliesAPP
Slip & Skid $12.99 141 97% 4.2k $55k (exactly $54,948) NHOGS Interactive
Jelly Bubble $9.99 170 99% 5.1k $51k (exactly $50,949) BINGOBELL
True Disc Golf $24.99 32 90% 960 $24k (exactly $23,990) Sportsmanlike Games
SharedScreen Wagons 2 $9.99 52 98% 1.6k $16k (exactly $15,584) Anti-Ded GameDev
Lateral Thinking Together · EA $5.99 85 43% 2.6k $15k (exactly $15,274) PushForward

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