Games › Sports › Sports + Swordplay
Should I ship a Swordplay Sports game?
Sports + Swordplay
Only 9 developers shipped a Swordplay Sports game 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, Fresh Tracks, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 11 more are announced, ×11 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.
Only 0 developers shipped this in the last year, under the 5 a verdict needs; over 2 years the middle one made $1.2k against a market of $630. 11 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $300 (exactly $300) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.2k (exactly $1,198) |
| Top 25% | $2.2k (exactly $2,156) |
| Top 5% | $40k (exactly $39,734) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 9 |
| Released games | 41 |
| Announced | 11 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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: too few recent games to read.
Free games: 12%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Sports, Swordplay
- Price point
- $9.99 typical
Why players buy here
Fewer than 10 games in the last 2 years; sentiment and price figures use the all window.
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 94% positive over 78,348 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. All of the 10 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 11 games are announced against 0 developers who shipped in the last year, ×11 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Sports with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Dynamic NarrationStrong odds
- + CraftingFair
- + Strategy RPGFair
- + SandboxFair
- + Split ScreenFair
- + Dating SimFair
- + Visual NovelFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + FMVFair
- + BikesFair
- + Immersive SimFair
- + Choices MatterFair
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Beat Saber | older | $19.99 | 69,750 95% | 2.1M | $42M (exactly $41,829,075) | Beat Games |
| | Nidhogg | older | $9.99 | 5,717 90% | 172k | $1.7M (exactly $1,713,385) | Messhof |
| | Synth Riders | older | $24.99 | 1,336 92% | 40k | $1.0M (exactly $1,001,599) | Kluge Interactive |
| | Fruit Ninja VR | older | $14.99 | 801 80% | 24k | $360k (exactly $360,210) | Halfbrick Studios Pty Ltd |
| | Age of Gladiators II: Rome | older | $19.99 | 272 66% | 8.2k | $163k (exactly $163,118) | Creative Storm Entertainment |
| | Sword Master VR | older | $9.99 | 190 70% | 5.7k | $57k (exactly $56,943) | Master Indie |
| | Fresh Tracks | $24.99 | 53 94% | 1.6k | $40k (exactly $39,734) | Buffalo Buffalo | |
| | SWORDY | · EA older | $14.99 | 88 63% | 2.6k | $40k (exactly $39,574) | Frogshark |
| | SOUNDART | older | $19.99 | 57 75% | 1.7k | $34k (exactly $34,183) | MercuryStudio |
| | Age of Gladiators II: Death League | older | $12.99 | 84 71% | 2.5k | $33k (exactly $32,735) | Creative Storm Entertainment |
| | Sportvida CyberDash | $19.99 | 7 85% | 210 | $4.2k (exactly $4,198) | ible Sportvida | |
| | SLOWLY FIGHTER | $5.99 | 12 100% | 360 | $2.2k (exactly $2,156) | Bakumatsu Games | |
| | TrainingTiles | $9.99 | 6 100% | 180 | $1.8k (exactly $1,798) | HumanBionics, Jhohan Hernandez | |
| | Bashing Brutal | $7.99 | 5 60% | 150 | $1.2k (exactly $1,198) | Lema Games | |
| | Project: KNOSSOS | $7.99 | 2 100% | 60 | $479 (exactly $479) | Ancient Pixel | |
| | Odania Sports Arena | $9.99 | 1 0% | 30 | $300 (exactly $300) | Odania GmbH | |
| | Accurate Adjacent Ballistics Simulator | $9.99 | 1 0% | 30 | $300 (exactly $300) | MagusForge | |
| | KrvVR | $5.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | Kaan Özgül |
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.