Do I ship it?

Games › PvE › PvE + Asynchronous Multiplayer

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a PvE Asynchronous Multiplayer game?

PvE + Asynchronous Multiplayer

Of 32 developers who shipped a PvE Asynchronous Multiplayer 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.. 77 more are announced, ×4.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $1.3k, ×2.0 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $850k, ×1360 the market median. Revenue is down 90% on the market; 77 games are announced against 19 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.0 times the market baseline, revenue down 90% on the market, 77 announced, ×4.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
PvE + Asynchronous Multiplayer
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 32
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.1k → $64k → $899 → $17k → $807 (still earning) → $1.3k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for PvE + Asynchronous Multiplayer: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 32
Bottom 30% $599 (exactly $599)
Median $1.3k (exactly $1,258)
Top 25% $28k (exactly $28,058)
Top 5% $854k (exactly $854,145)
Developers, 2 yr 32
Released games 86
Announced 77
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Low
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: revenue down 90% on the market, supply 45% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 29%, 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
Asynchronous Multiplayer
effort 5 / 10 · low · a backend with accounts and persistent turns

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, Asynchronous Multiplayer; 3 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, PvP, Auto Battler
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Colorful
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 73% positive over 19,682 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $600, median $1.3k, 1 in 4 over $28k, 1 in 20 over $850k.

3 in 10 developers made under $600. 5 in 10 of the 21 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 77 games are announced against 19 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.1 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

PvE with a different second tag, 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

The Bazaar 2025 · $9.0M Turmoil 2016 · $5.1M Deceive Inc. 2023 · $2.9M Dwarven Realms 2024 · $854k Ark Nova 2025 · $569k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
The Bazaar $19.99 14,931 70% 448k $9.0M (exactly $8,954,121) Tempo
Turmoil older $12.99 13,154 92% 395k $5.1M (exactly $5,126,114) Gamious
Deceive Inc. older $19.99 4,755 84% 143k $2.9M (exactly $2,851,574) Sweet Bandits Studios
Dwarven Realms $9.99 2,850 81% 86k $854k (exactly $854,145) Crater Studios
Ark Nova $22.99 825 94% 25k $569k (exactly $569,002) Dire Wolf
GLADIABOTS - AI Combat Arena older $14.99 846 87% 25k $380k (exactly $380,446) GFX47
Grail $9.99 345 89% 10k $103k (exactly $103,396) Sokpop Collective
Cascadia $14.99 210 98% 6.3k $94k (exactly $94,437) Dire Wolf
Galaxy Trucker: Extended Edition older $9.99 213 89% 6.4k $64k (exactly $63,836) CGE Digital
EXOcars $19.99 106 69% 3.2k $64k (exactly $63,568) XOCUS
Yomi 2 $19.99 104 92% 3.1k $62k (exactly $62,369) Sirlin Games
Empyreal $14.99 123 69% 3.7k $55k (exactly $55,313) Silent Games
Gem Miner TD $12.99 72 97% 2.2k $28k (exactly $28,058) iFeral Games
Rune Legacy Idle $4.99 116 55% 3.5k $17k (exactly $17,365) Mume Games

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