Do I ship it?

Games › PvE › PvE + Animals

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Animal PvE game?

PvE + Animals

Of 25 developers who shipped an Animal PvE 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.. 66 more are announced, ×3.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $540, ×0.9 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $240k, ×393 the market median. Revenue is down 85% on the market; 66 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 0.9 times the market baseline, revenue down 85% on the market, 66 announced, ×3.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
PvE + Animals
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 25
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $599 → $15k → $479 (still earning) → $538 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for PvE + Animals: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 25
Bottom 30% $449 (exactly $449)
Median $538 (exactly $538)
Top 25% $13k (exactly $13,187)
Top 5% $247k (exactly $246,885)
Developers, 2 yr 25
Released games 34
Announced 66
Effort 6 / 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 85% on the market, supply 300% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 12%, 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.

PvE
effort 6 / 10 · low · online co-op against AI still needs the whole netcode stack
Animals
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
PvE; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelite, Action, Roguelike
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Cute, Colorful, 2.5D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 96% positive over 12,993 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $450, median $540, 1 in 4 over $13k, 1 in 20 over $240k.

3 in 10 developers made under $450. 6 in 10 of the 5 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 66 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.3 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

PvE with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Dating SimFair17 devs · median $2.4k · 23 announced
  2. + IdlerFair161 devs · median $1.0k · 229 announced
  3. + MinigamesFair9 devs · median $899 · 14 announced
  4. + TypingFair23 devs · median $719 · 27 announced
  5. + Extraction ShooterPoor odds44 devs · median $163k · 97 announced
  6. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds50 devs · median $85k · 120 announced
  7. + HeistPoor odds18 devs · median $30k · 50 announced
  8. + MMORPGPoor odds34 devs · median $25k · 248 announced
  9. + Real-TimePoor odds10 devs · median $20k · 24 announced
  10. + NavalPoor odds21 devs · median $11k · 59 announced
  11. + SpaceshipsPoor odds16 devs · median $6.3k · 20 announced
  12. + MarsPoor odds10 devs · median $6.3k · 13 announced

All 243 pairs on the PvE page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

WolfQuest: Anniversary Edition 2025 · $10M S.W.I.N.E. HD Remaster 2019 · $305k Zoominoes 2026 · $247k Maze Mice 2025 · $94k Frog Sqwad 🐸 2026 · $84k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
WolfQuest: Anniversary Edition $29.99 11,511 97% 345k $10M (exactly $10,356,447) eduweb
S.W.I.N.E. HD Remaster older $9.99 1,017 93% 31k $305k (exactly $304,795) Kite Games
Zoominoes $14.99 549 91% 16k $247k (exactly $246,885) Starlight Games inc.
Maze Mice $9.99 315 88% 9.5k $94k (exactly $94,406) TrampolineTales
Frog Sqwad 🐸 $7.99 352 72% 11k $84k (exactly $84,374) Panic Stations
Descending The Woods · EA older $18.99 111 47% 3.3k $63k (exactly $63,237) AIONWARE LTD
War Tortoise older $12.99 137 79% 4.1k $53k (exactly $53,389) Foursaken Media
Exark $14.99 99 73% 3.0k $45k (exactly $44,520) Robot Cat Limited
Isekat: Crushed by a Computer, My Beloved Kitten is Transported to a Fantasy World where its Typing Skills Save the Kingdom! $9.99 50 92% 1.5k $15k (exactly $14,985) InSpite
Heritage $9.99 44 72% 1.3k $13k (exactly $13,187) Big Three Games
Skollorn $6.99 34 94% 1.0k $7.1k (exactly $7,130) Fenris Labs
Joey's Nightmare II · EA $7.99 28 85% 840 $6.7k (exactly $6,712) A* Studio
Sous Raccoon · EA $14.99 11 90% 330 $4.9k (exactly $4,947) Novice Flow

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