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Should I ship a PvE Boomer Shooter?
PvE + Boomer Shooter
Of 88 developers who shipped a PvE Boomer Shooter 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.. 148 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $900, ×1.4 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $380k, ×619 the market median. Revenue is up 115% on the market; 148 games are announced against 60 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $300 (exactly $300) |
|---|---|
| Median | $898 (exactly $898) |
| Top 25% | $8.4k (exactly $8,394) |
| Top 5% | $389k (exactly $388,606) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 88 |
| Released games | 147 |
| Announced | 148 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $5.99 |
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 up 115% on the market, supply 115% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Boomer Shooter
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- PvE, Boomer Shooter; 9 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Shooter, FPS
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, 3D, Retro
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 9,259 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 8 in 10 of the 35 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 148 games are announced against 60 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
PvE with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Dating SimFair
- + IdlerFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + TypingFair
- + Extraction ShooterPoor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + HeistPoor odds
- + MMORPGPoor odds
- + Real-TimePoor odds
- + NavalPoor odds
- + SpaceshipsPoor odds
- + MarsPoor odds
Comparable games
CULTIC 2022 · $2.4M 
FUMES 2025 · EA · $1.3M 
METAL EDEN 2025 · $1.2M 
Blood: Refreshed Supply™ 2025 · $647k 
PowerSlave Exhumed 2022 · $452k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | CULTIC | older | $9.99 | 8,027 97% | 241k | $2.4M (exactly $2,405,692) | Jasozz Games |
| | FUMES | · EA | $14.99 | 2,816 95% | 84k | $1.3M (exactly $1,266,355) | FUMES team |
| | METAL EDEN | $19.99 | 1,920 84% | 58k | $1.2M (exactly $1,151,424) | Reikon Games | |
| | Blood: Refreshed Supply™ | $29.99 | 719 71% | 22k | $647k (exactly $646,884) | Nightdive Studios, Monolith Productions | |
| | PowerSlave Exhumed | older | $19.99 | 754 90% | 23k | $452k (exactly $452,174) | Nightdive Studios, Lobotomy Software |
 | ODDCORE | · EA | $12.99 | 1,080 96% | 32k | $421k (exactly $420,876) | ODDCORP |
 | Rise of the Triad: Ludicrous Edition | older | $19.99 | 678 93% | 20k | $407k (exactly $406,597) | Nightdive Studios, Apogee Software, New… (Nightdive Studios, Apogee Software, New Blood Interactive) |
 | Serious Sam: Shatterverse | $19.99 | 648 50% | 19k | $389k (exactly $388,606) | Behaviour Interactive Inc. | |
 | Captain Wayne - Vacation Desperation | $9.99 | 1,019 97% | 31k | $305k (exactly $305,394) | Ciaran Games LLC | |
 | REAVER | · EA older | $13.99 | 539 87% | 16k | $226k (exactly $226,218) | crunkz, Black Boat Games |
 | The Last Salvage Squad | $9.99 | 510 98% | 15k | $153k (exactly $152,847) | Sunfish Kumano | |
 | HELLBREAK | $14.99 | 275 76% | 8.3k | $124k (exactly $123,668) | Double Barrel Games | |
 | Galactic Vault | $19.99 | 155 90% | 4.7k | $93k (exactly $92,954) | MeepMeep Games | |
 | UNYIELDER | $24.99 | 117 62% | 3.5k | $88k (exactly $87,715) | TrueWorld Studios |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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