Should I ship a PvP Swordplay game?
PvP + Swordplay
Of 37 developers who shipped a PvP Swordplay 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.. 114 more are announced, ×5.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $600, ×0.4 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $480. 114 games are announced against 22 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.2 per shipper, while revenue is down 30% on the market.
| Bottom 30% | $479 (exactly $479) |
|---|---|
| Median | $600 (exactly $600) |
| Top 25% | $18k (exactly $18,340) |
| Top 5% | $1.1M (exactly $1,137,631) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 37 |
| Released games | 146 |
| Announced | 114 |
| 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 45% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 31%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 8 / 10 · online systems, open world
- Systems
- PvP, Swordplay; 3 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, 2D Fighter
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Retro, Anime
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 71% positive over 9,201 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $480. 8 in 10 of the 23 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 114 games are announced against 22 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.2 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
Sea of Thieves: 2026 Edition 2020 · $386M 
FOR HONOR™ 2017 · $98M 
MORDHAU 2019 · $82M 
Chivalry 2 2022 · $56M 
Beat Saber 2019 · $42M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Sea of Thieves: 2026 Edition | older | $39.99 | 322,072 88% | 9.7M | $386M (exactly $386,389,778) | Rare Ltd |
| | FOR HONOR™ | older | $29.99 | 108,492 69% | 3.3M | $98M (exactly $97,610,252) | Ubisoft Montreal, Ubisoft Quebec, Ubiso… (Ubisoft Montreal, Ubisoft Quebec, Ubisoft Toronto, Blue Byte) |
| | MORDHAU | older | $29.99 | 91,678 80% | 2.8M | $82M (exactly $82,482,697) | Triternion |
| | Chivalry 2 | older | $39.99 | 46,707 79% | 1.4M | $56M (exactly $56,034,388) | Torn Banner Studios |
| | Beat Saber | older | $19.99 | 69,750 95% | 2.1M | $42M (exactly $41,829,075) | Beat Games |
 | Chivalry: Medieval Warfare | older | $24.99 | 44,486 83% | 1.3M | $33M (exactly $33,351,154) | Torn Banner Studios |
 | Last Oasis | · EA older | $29.99 | 20,443 63% | 613k | $18M (exactly $18,392,567) | Donkey Crew |
 | Mortal Online 2 | older | $39.99 | 11,103 59% | 333k | $13M (exactly $13,320,269) | Star Vault AB |
 | Absolver | older | $29.99 | 11,464 74% | 344k | $10M (exactly $10,314,161) | Sloclap |
 | BLEACH Rebirth of Souls | $59.99 | 4,831 68% | 145k | $8.7M (exactly $8,694,351) | TAMSOFT CORPORATION | |
 | Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. World Stage | $19.99 | 1,897 71% | 57k | $1.1M (exactly $1,137,631) | RGG Studio | |
 | Gladio Mori | $15.99 | 1,147 82% | 34k | $550k (exactly $550,216) | Plebeian Studio | |
 | Backpack Jianghu | $13.99 | 565 80% | 17k | $237k (exactly $237,130) | 背包工作室 | |
 | Talisman: Digital 5th Edition | $29.99 | 227 70% | 6.8k | $204k (exactly $204,232) | Nomad Games | |
 | IGS Classic Arcade Collection | $29.99 | 94 60% | 2.8k | $85k (exactly $84,572) | IGS(台灣鈊象電子) | |
 | Crimson Capes | $14.99 | 165 90% | 5.0k | $74k (exactly $74,200) | Poor Locke | |
 | AQUAPAZZA: Aquaplus Dream Match | $19.99 | 104 33% | 3.1k | $62k (exactly $62,369) | AQUAPLUS | |
 | The Story Page | · EA | $7.99 | 103 78% | 3.1k | $25k (exactly $24,689) | SPR-Games |
 | Eternal Sword Tomb | · EA | $8.99 | 68 77% | 2.0k | $18k (exactly $18,340) | 阿郎 |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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