Games › PvP › PvP + Spectacle fighter
Should I ship a PvP Spectacle fighter?
PvP + Spectacle fighter
Of 65 developers who shipped a PvP Spectacle fighter 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.. 111 more are announced, ×3.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.2k, ×0.8 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $270; 1 in 20 cleared $1.4M, ×946 the market median. Revenue is down 30% on the market; 111 games are announced against 31 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $269 (exactly $269) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.2k (exactly $1,199) |
| Top 25% | $6.7k (exactly $6,742) |
| Top 5% | $1.4M (exactly $1,417,028) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 65 |
| Released games | 202 |
| Announced | 111 |
| Effort | 8 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 down 30% on the market, supply 10% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 22%, 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
- Spectacle fighter
- effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
What it takes
- Effort
- 8 / 10 · online systems, open world
- Systems
- PvP, Spectacle fighter; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Combat, 2D Fighter
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Anime, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 85% positive over 60,724 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $270. 8 in 10 of the 45 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 111 games are announced against 31 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.6 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
PvP with a different second tag, 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
DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO 2024 · $76M 
MELTY BLOOD: TYPE LUMINA 2021 · $14M 
Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles 2 2025 · $5.2M 
STRANGER OF PARADISE FINAL FANTASY ORIGIN 2023 · $4.5M 
UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH II Sys:Celes 2024 · $2.9M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO | $49.99 | 50,395 86% | 1.5M | $76M (exactly $75,577,382) | Spike Chunsoft Co., Ltd. | |
| | MELTY BLOOD: TYPE LUMINA | older | $49.99 | 9,130 88% | 274k | $14M (exactly $13,692,261) | FRENCH-BREAD, TYPE-MOON, Lasengle Inc.,… (FRENCH-BREAD, TYPE-MOON, Lasengle Inc., TAMSOFT CORPORATION, GameLoop Inc.) |
| | Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles 2 | $59.99 | 2,879 83% | 86k | $5.2M (exactly $5,181,336) | CyberConnect2 | |
| | STRANGER OF PARADISE FINAL FANTASY ORIGIN | older | $39.99 | 3,735 82% | 112k | $4.5M (exactly $4,480,880) | Square Enix, KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. |
| | UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH II Sys:Celes | older | $49.99 | 1,954 87% | 59k | $2.9M (exactly $2,930,414) | FRENCH-BREAD, Arc System Works |
 | FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves | $19.99 | 3,135 82% | 94k | $1.9M (exactly $1,880,059) | SNK CORPORATION | |
 | ERA ONE | · EA | $29.99 | 1,575 86% | 47k | $1.4M (exactly $1,417,028) | Team Complex LTD |
 | Fight Angel Special Edition | older | $19.99 | 1,776 75% | 53k | $1.1M (exactly $1,065,067) | Red Fox |
 | MEGATON MUSASHI W: WIRED | older | $49.99 | 688 78% | 21k | $1.0M (exactly $1,031,794) | LEVEL5 Inc. |
 | DAVIGO: VR vs. PC | · EA older | $24.99 | 1,200 84% | 36k | $900k (exactly $899,640) | Davigo Studio |
 | Wretch: Divine Ascent | $14.99 | 975 75% | 29k | $438k (exactly $438,458) | Ogopogo | |
 | Iron Saga VS | $29.99 | 376 79% | 11k | $338k (exactly $338,287) | Gameduchy | |
 | BEYBLADE X XONE | $49.99 | 162 79% | 4.9k | $243k (exactly $242,951) | 株式会社グルーブボックスジャパン | |
 | Flash Doll | $8.99 | 859 80% | 26k | $232k (exactly $231,672) | Game Star | |
 | BEYBLADE X EVOBATTLE | $49.99 | 112 81% | 3.4k | $168k (exactly $167,966) | 株式会社グルーブボックスジャパン | |
 | Two Strikes | $14.99 | 256 89% | 7.7k | $115k (exactly $115,123) | Retro Reactor |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.