Games › PvP › PvP + Social Deduction
Should I ship a PvP Social Deduction game?
PvP + Social Deduction
Of 77 developers who shipped a PvP Social Deduction 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.. 134 more are announced, ×2.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.2k, ×1.4 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $630; 1 in 20 cleared $690k, ×465 the market median. Revenue is down 45% on the market; 134 games are announced against 58 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $629 (exactly $629) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.2k (exactly $2,156) |
| Top 25% | $14k (exactly $14,469) |
| Top 5% | $697k (exactly $696,503) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 77 |
| Released games | 162 |
| Announced | 134 |
| Effort | 8 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $6.50 |
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 down 45% on the market, supply 205% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 25%, 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
- Social Deduction
- effort 7 / 10 · low · online lobbies, voice or chat, live player base
What it takes
- Effort
- 8 / 10 · online systems, open world
- Systems
- PvP, Social Deduction; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Online Co-Op, Action, Survival
- Price point
- $6.50 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person, Funny
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $6.50.
The top 10 games average 85% positive over 38,590 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $630. 8 in 10 of the 24 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 134 games are announced against 58 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
PvP with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
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Comparable games
Among Us 2018 · $99M 
LOCKDOWN Protocol 2025 · $5.0M 
Project Winter 2019 · $4.1M 
Deceive Inc. 2023 · $2.9M 
In Silence 2021 · $2.8M | 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 |
| | LOCKDOWN Protocol | $9.99 | 16,605 86% | 498k | $5.0M (exactly $4,976,518) | Mirage Creative Lab | |
| | Project Winter | older | $9.99 | 13,662 84% | 410k | $4.1M (exactly $4,094,501) | Other Ocean Interactive |
| | Deceive Inc. | older | $19.99 | 4,755 84% | 143k | $2.9M (exactly $2,851,574) | Sweet Bandits Studios |
| | In Silence | older | $9.99 | 9,450 75% | 284k | $2.8M (exactly $2,832,165) | Ravenhood Games |
 | MIMESIS | · EA | $9.99 | 8,396 84% | 252k | $2.5M (exactly $2,516,281) | ReLU Games, Inc. |
 | Dale & Dawson Stationery Supplies | older | $7.99 | 7,792 91% | 234k | $1.9M (exactly $1,867,742) | Striped Panda Studios |
 | First Class Trouble | older | $14.99 | 3,103 79% | 93k | $1.4M (exactly $1,395,419) | Invisible Walls |
 | Perfect Heist 2 | older | $9.99 | 3,711 94% | 111k | $1.1M (exactly $1,112,187) | yeswecamp |
 | A Game of Thrones: The Board Game - Digital Edition | older | $19.99 | 1,705 71% | 51k | $1.0M (exactly $1,022,488) | Dire Wolf |
 | Feign | $4.99 | 5,270 91% | 158k | $789k (exactly $788,919) | Teneke Kafalar | |
 | DEATH NOTE Killer Within | $9.99 | 2,324 84% | 70k | $697k (exactly $696,503) | Grounding Inc. | |
 | Sinister Night 2 | $9.99 | 1,800 86% | 54k | $539k (exactly $539,460) | Bug Inventors | |
 | Scam Line | · EA | $6.99 | 1,088 84% | 33k | $228k (exactly $228,154) | RavenJm |
 | KILLER INN | · EA | $9.99 | 670 44% | 20k | $201k (exactly $200,799) | Square Enix, Tactic Studios |
 | It Has My Face | $9.99 | 608 88% | 18k | $182k (exactly $182,218) | NightByte Games | |
 | BACKROOMS: APPREHENSION | $2.99 | 1,371 83% | 41k | $123k (exactly $122,979) | DMNT Interactive | |
 | Airport Security Sucks! | $7.99 | 458 85% | 14k | $110k (exactly $109,783) | JakeHub, Metater |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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