Do I ship it?

GamesPvPPvP + Visual Novel

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a PvP Visual Novel?

PvP + Visual Novel

Only 10 developers shipped a PvP Visual Novel 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, Cardfight!! Vanguard Dear Days 2, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 25 more are announced, ×6.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 8 / 10 build.

Only 4 developers shipped this in the last year, under the 5 a verdict needs; over 2 years the middle one made $78k against a market of $1.5k. 25 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 52.1 times the market baseline, revenue down 30% on the market, 25 announced, ×6.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
PvP + Visual Novel
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 10

not enough cohorts to draw

Outcomes for PvP + Visual Novel: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 10
Bottom 30% $55k (exactly $55,172)
Median $78k (exactly $78,055)
Top 25% $143k (exactly $143,328)
Top 5% $1.3M (exactly $1,324,911)
Developers, 2 yr 10
Released games 48
Announced 25
Effort 8 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $19.99

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 35% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 25%, 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
Visual Novel
effort 2 / 10 · high · script, choices and static art

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
8 / 10 · online systems, open world
Systems
PvP, Visual Novel
Price point
$19.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 9 games average 73% positive over 1,875 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $56k, median $78k, 1 in 4 over $140k, 1 in 20 over $1.3M.

3 in 10 developers made under $56k. 3 in 10 of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 25 games are announced against 4 developers who shipped in the last year, ×6.3 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

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth: Complete Edition older $49.99 10,810 89% 324k $16M (exactly $16,211,757) h.a.n.d., Inc., Media.Vision Inc.
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.)
Cardfight!! Vanguard Dear Days 2 $69.99 631 67% 19k $1.3M (exactly $1,324,911) FURYU Corporation, LANCARSE Ltd.
Nitroplus Blasterz: Heroines Infinite Duel older $19.99 1,058 90% 32k $634k (exactly $634,483) EXAMU
Umineko: Golden Fantasia older $24.99 472 91% 14k $354k (exactly $353,858) 07th Expansion
Garfield Kart 2 - All You Can Drift $24.99 216 45% 6.5k $162k (exactly $161,935) Eden Games
Spirit Swap: Lofi Beats to Match-3 To $19.99 239 94% 7.2k $143k (exactly $143,328) Soft Not Weak, LLC
Astatos · EA older $14.99 298 82% 8.9k $134k (exactly $134,011) Studio Klondike Australia
Bravery Network Online · EA older $24.99 133 79% 4.0k $100k (exactly $99,710) GLOAM
Falling with Ice Phoenix! $9.99 300 92% 9.0k $90k (exactly $89,910) F Project
Fuckstone $11.99 217 88% 6.5k $78k (exactly $78,055) Anime Mania
AQUAPAZZA: Aquaplus Dream Match $19.99 104 33% 3.1k $62k (exactly $62,369) AQUAPLUS
Infinity: HexaDome Tactics $19.99 92 75% 2.8k $55k (exactly $55,172) Blindspot Games
PENTALOOP -ペンタループ- $3.99 55 72% 1.7k $6.6k (exactly $6,584) イバラユーギ×ひろゆ~プロジェクト
Heatwave $10.00 21 95% 630 $6.3k (exactly $6,300) Monochromesoft
Accept or Reject $3.69 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) Tori Aru

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