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Should I ship a PvE Bullet Heaven?
PvE + Bullet Heaven
Of 118 developers who shipped a PvE Bullet Heaven 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.. 248 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 $1.4k, ×2.3 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $290k, ×472 the market median. Revenue is down 65% on the market; 248 games are announced against 101 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $179 (exactly $179) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.4k (exactly $1,436) |
| Top 25% | $22k (exactly $21,856) |
| Top 5% | $296k (exactly $296,352) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 118 |
| Released games | 140 |
| Announced | 248 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $4.99 |
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 65% on the market, supply 495% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 4%, 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
- Bullet Heaven
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- PvE, Bullet Heaven; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Roguelite, Action Roguelike
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $11.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Top-Down, 2D, Pixel Graphics
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $11.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 86% positive over 62,231 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $180. 7 in 10 of the 18 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 248 games are announced against 101 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
Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor 2025 · $18M 
Rogue: Genesia 2025 · $3.6M 
TerraTech Legion 2026 · $632k 
Funguys Swarm 2026 · $334k 
Vital Shell 2026 · $315k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor | $12.99 | 46,354 86% | 1.4M | $18M (exactly $18,064,154) | Funday Games | |
| | Rogue: Genesia | $14.99 | 8,111 90% | 243k | $3.6M (exactly $3,647,517) | Ouadi Huard | |
| | TerraTech Legion | $9.99 | 2,109 81% | 63k | $632k (exactly $632,067) | Payload Studios | |
| | Funguys Swarm | $9.99 | 1,114 89% | 33k | $334k (exactly $333,866) | Stairway Games | |
| | Vital Shell | $5.99 | 1,752 96% | 53k | $315k (exactly $314,834) | MarvinWizard | |
 | RIFTSTORM | · EA | $14.99 | 659 70% | 20k | $296k (exactly $296,352) | Confiction Labs, Agate |
 | Nomad Survival | older | $4.99 | 1,517 87% | 46k | $227k (exactly $227,095) | The Fox Knocks |
 | Artifact Seeker: Resurrection | older | $8.99 | 725 79% | 22k | $196k (exactly $195,532) | Lynkpin Game |
 | Pebble Knights | · EA | $9.99 | 479 76% | 14k | $144k (exactly $143,556) | 51% Games |
 | Trials Survivors | · EA | $9.99 | 475 85% | 14k | $142k (exactly $142,358) | Angry wisp |
 | Keeper's Toll | $6.99 | 668 88% | 20k | $140k (exactly $140,080) | Stingbot Games | |
 | Net.Attack() - Code or Die! | $7.99 | 510 80% | 15k | $122k (exactly $122,247) | ByteRockers' Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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