Do I ship it?

Games › PvE › PvE + Cats

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Cat PvE game?

PvE + Cats

Of 51 developers who shipped a Cat 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.. 92 more are announced, ×3.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $450 in the last 2 years and $450 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 6 / 10 build. 29 developers shipped in the last year and 92 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.7 times the market baseline, revenue down 70% on the market, 92 announced, ×3.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
PvE + Cats
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 51
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $330 → $5.7k → $3.9k → $120 → $1.3k → $1.8k → $298 (still earning) → $150 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for PvE + Cats: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 51
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $449 (exactly $449)
Top 25% $3.9k (exactly $3,896)
Top 5% $26k (exactly $26,374)
Developers, 2 yr 51
Released games 115
Announced 92
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 70% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 23%, 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
Cats
effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 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 Action, Action Roguelike, Roguelike
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Cute, 2D, Top-Down
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 80% positive over 1,006 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $150, median $450, 1 in 4 over $3.8k, 1 in 20 over $26k.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 28 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 92 games are announced against 29 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.2 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

Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2021 · $6.5M Atomicrops 2020 · $2.3M Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 2023 · $1.5M Portal Dungeon 2023 · $447k Garfield Kart 2 - All You Can Drift 2025 · $162k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl older $49.99 4,311 75% 129k $6.5M (exactly $6,465,207) Ludosity, Fair Play Labs
Atomicrops older $14.99 5,134 93% 154k $2.3M (exactly $2,308,760) Bird Bath Games
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 older $49.99 1,013 81% 30k $1.5M (exactly $1,519,196) Fair Play Labs
Portal Dungeon older $14.99 995 88% 30k $447k (exactly $447,452) Dusk Dog Studio
Garfield Kart 2 - All You Can Drift $24.99 216 45% 6.5k $162k (exactly $161,935) Eden Games
Maze Mice $9.99 315 88% 9.5k $94k (exactly $94,406) TrampolineTales
Five Nights At Floppa older $2.99 979 95% 29k $88k (exactly $87,816) FreezyCat
Summer Paws older $4.99 409 96% 12k $61k (exactly $61,227) Manic Hyena
Hobo Cat Adventures older $10.99 83 92% 2.5k $27k (exactly $27,365) Hobo Cat Games
Time Snatcher Handy $9.99 88 96% 2.6k $26k (exactly $26,374) PulleyBun, ClockworkCats
Ultra Mega Cats · EA $11.99 70 74% 2.1k $25k (exactly $25,179) Fallen Leaf, Unseen Silence, Black Drak… (Fallen Leaf, Unseen Silence, Black Drakkar Games)
Kitty's Last Adventure $4.99 144 97% 4.3k $22k (exactly $21,557) Woum
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
The Isle of Cats $14.99 31 83% 930 $14k (exactly $13,941) Dire Wolf
Fluffy Sailors $12.99 29 79% 870 $11k (exactly $11,301) Skaldery Games
Fantastic Findings Hidden Seasons $11.99 29 89% 870 $10k (exactly $10,431) Shapeshift Entertainment ApS
Skollorn $6.99 34 94% 1.0k $7.1k (exactly $7,130) Fenris Labs

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