Games › PvP › PvP + World War II
Should I ship a WWII PvP game?
PvP + World War II
Of 21 developers who shipped a WWII PvP 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.. 39 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $4.5k, ×3.0 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $50; 1 in 20 cleared $960k, ×642 the market median. Revenue is down 95% on the market; 39 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $0 (exactly $0) |
|---|---|
| Median | $4.5k (exactly $4,485) |
| Top 25% | $165k (exactly $164,590) |
| Top 5% | $961k (exactly $961,308) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 21 |
| Released games | 115 |
| Announced | 39 |
| Effort | 8 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $10.99 |
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 95% on the market, supply 65% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 30%, 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
- World War II
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 8 / 10 · online systems, open world
- Systems
- PvP; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Simulation, Strategy
- Price point
- $10.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Realistic, 3D, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $10.99.
The top 10 games average 79% positive over 6,727 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $50. 5 in 10 of the 14 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 39 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
PvP with a different setting or mood, 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
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Battlefield™ V | older | $49.99 | 236,709 70% | 7.1M | $355M (exactly $354,992,487) | DICE |
| | Hell Let Loose | older | $49.99 | 99,628 83% | 3.0M | $149M (exactly $149,412,112) | Expression Games |
| | Company of Heroes 3 | older | $59.99 | 24,516 59% | 735k | $44M (exactly $44,121,445) | Relic Entertainment |
| | Foxhole | older | $29.99 | 47,330 79% | 1.4M | $43M (exactly $42,582,801) | Siege Camp |
| | Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront | older | $34.99 | 32,183 85% | 965k | $34M (exactly $33,782,495) | Barbedwire Studios, Digitalmindsoft |
| | IL-2 Sturmovik: Battle of Stalingrad | older | $49.99 | 8,749 79% | 262k | $13M (exactly $13,120,875) | FOR-GAMES CR LTD |
| | Men of War II | older | $44.99 | 5,614 60% | 168k | $7.6M (exactly $7,577,216) | Best Way |
| | Call of Duty®: Vanguard | older | $59.99 | 4,172 67% | 125k | $7.5M (exactly $7,508,348) | Sledgehammer Games, Treyarch, High Moon… (Sledgehammer Games, Treyarch, High Moon Studios, Raven Software, Beenox, Demonware) |
| | Axis & Allies 1942 Online | older | $19.99 | 4,810 78% | 144k | $2.9M (exactly $2,884,557) | Beamdog |
| | Dino D-Day | older | $9.99 | 8,039 86% | 241k | $2.4M (exactly $2,409,288) | 800 North and Digital Ranch |
| | Aces of Thunder | $29.99 | 1,159 57% | 35k | $1.0M (exactly $1,042,752) | Gaijin Entertainment | |
| | Sudden Strike 5 | $49.99 | 641 75% | 19k | $961k (exactly $961,308) | Kite Games | |
| | Age of History 2: Definitive Edition | $9.99 | 2,600 83% | 78k | $779k (exactly $779,220) | Łukasz Jakowski | |
| | Heroes of Valor | · EA | $14.99 | 1,324 90% | 40k | $595k (exactly $595,403) | Fancy Cat Interactive |
| | Scramble: Battle of Britain | · EA | $29.99 | 209 88% | 6.3k | $188k (exactly $188,037) | Slitherine Ltd. |
| | Army Troop | $14.99 | 366 80% | 11k | $165k (exactly $164,590) | Army Troop Studios | |
| | States of Power | $11.99 | 344 88% | 10k | $124k (exactly $123,737) | Sarunas | |
| | Battlefield Commander WWII | · EA | $19.99 | 54 70% | 1.6k | $32k (exactly $32,384) | Sword of Steel |
| | SGS Spain at War | $29.99 | 25 88% | 750 | $22k (exactly $22,492) | Strategy Game Studio, Headquarter Warga… (Strategy Game Studio, Headquarter Wargames) | |
| | WEGO World War II: Overlord | $39.99 | 5 80% | 150 | $6.0k (exactly $5,998) | Brian Kelly |
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.