Do I ship it?

Games › PvE › PvE + Assassins

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Assassin PvE game?

PvE + Assassins

Only 10 developers shipped an Assassin PvE 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, Red Tears: Angola, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 34 more are announced, ×4.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $540, ×0.4 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300. 34 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.3 per shipper, while momentum is unreadable here, too few recent games.

Deciding numbers: median 0.4 times the market baseline, revenue too few recent games to read momentum, 34 announced, ×4.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
PvE + Assassins
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 10

not enough cohorts to draw

Outcomes for PvE + Assassins: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 10
Bottom 30% $299 (exactly $299)
Median $539 (exactly $539)
Top 25% $2.9k (exactly $2,876)
Top 5% $18k (exactly $17,538)
Developers, 2 yr 10
Released games 37
Announced 34
Effort 7 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $8.99

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 too few recent games to read momentum, supply 300% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 14%, 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
Assassins
effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
Systems
PvE
Price point
$8.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 8 games average 84% positive over 71 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $300, median $540, 1 in 4 over $2.8k, 1 in 20 over $17k.

3 in 10 developers made under $300. 34 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.3 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

Aragami 2 2021 · $3.6M Deceive Inc. 2023 · $2.9M Geometric Sniper 2020 · $25k Red Tears: Angola 2026 · EA · $18k The Faction 2022 · $6.6k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Aragami 2 older $34.99 3,472 76% 104k $3.6M (exactly $3,644,558) Lince Works
Deceive Inc. older $19.99 4,755 84% 143k $2.9M (exactly $2,851,574) Sweet Bandits Studios
Geometric Sniper older $2.99 282 84% 8.5k $25k (exactly $25,295) YAW Studios
Red Tears: Angola · EA $14.99 39 84% 1.2k $18k (exactly $17,538) Arun Haines
The Faction older $19.99 11 63% 330 $6.6k (exactly $6,597) GamesBraz
Empire of Vice : Chicago · EA $16.99 9 77% 270 $4.6k (exactly $4,587) Artifex Parvus
No Tyrant older $5.99 17 76% 510 $3.1k (exactly $3,055) ShadowDevour
The Killer older $19.99 5 60% 150 $3.0k (exactly $2,998) GamesBraz
Lightning Katana $7.99 12 100% 360 $2.9k (exactly $2,876) Juicy Pulp Games
A-Star Theft older $4.99 17 100% 510 $2.5k (exactly $2,545) Kehler Creations
Last Shinobi $8.99 3 100% 90 $809 (exactly $809) Dark Tomato Studio
Cult 87 $8.99 2 0% 60 $539 (exactly $539) Feral Walrus
Shadowlight $4.99 3 100% 90 $449 (exactly $449) Unangwata
Happy Chase $4.99 2 50% 60 $299 (exactly $299) AND GEAR
Backrooms: The Wrong Door · EA $1.99 1 100% 30 $60 (exactly $60) SUDT Games
Suqare: Hired Gun $14.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) 2102 Game Studios
Speed Tactic Ninja $4.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) Helmi Blub

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