Do I ship it?

Games › Character Action Game › Character Action Game + PvE

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a PvE Character Action Game?

Character Action Game + PvE

Only 10 developers shipped a PvE Character Action 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, Dead as Disco, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 37 more are announced, ×4.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $4.3k, ×2.9 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $900; 1 in 20 cleared $9.2M, ×6183 the market median. Momentum is unreadable here, too few recent games; 37 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.9 times the market baseline, revenue too few recent games to read momentum, 37 announced, ×4.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Character Action Game + PvE
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 10
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $72k → $75k → $28k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Character Action Game + PvE: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 10
Bottom 30% $899 (exactly $899)
Median $4.3k (exactly $4,316)
Top 25% $75k (exactly $74,925)
Top 5% $9.3M (exactly $9,261,794)
Developers, 2 yr 10
Released games 64
Announced 37
Effort 7 / 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 too few recent games to read momentum, supply 300% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 9%, 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.

Character Action Game
effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
PvE
effort 6 / 10 · low · online co-op against AI still needs the whole netcode stack

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
Systems
Character Action Game, PvE
Price point
$9.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 8 games average 95% positive over 13,743 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $900, median $4.3k, 1 in 4 over $74k, 1 in 20 over $9.2M.

3 in 10 developers made under $900. 37 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.6 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Character Action Game with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Sci-fiPoor odds12 devs · median $305k · 30 announced
  2. + Action RPGPoor odds14 devs · median $105k · 55 announced
  3. + ShooterPoor odds14 devs · median $84k · 47 announced
  4. + Action-AdventurePoor odds23 devs · median $58k · 93 announced
  5. + Female ProtagonistPoor odds14 devs · median $58k · 43 announced
  6. + Spectacle fighterPoor odds22 devs · median $58k · 44 announced
  7. + Hack and SlashPoor odds27 devs · median $58k · 80 announced
  8. + Beat 'em upPoor odds12 devs · median $58k · 37 announced
  9. + AdventurePoor odds28 devs · median $29k · 100 announced
  10. + ActionPoor odds54 devs · median $20k · 188 announced
  11. + Action RoguelikePoor odds9 devs · median $20k · 40 announced
  12. + RoguelikePoor odds9 devs · median $20k · 16 announced

All 39 pairs on the Character Action Game page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Dead as Disco 2026 · EA · $9.3M Anima: Gate of Memories 2016 · $348k Captain Wayne - Vacation Desperation 2025 · $305k REAVER 2023 · EA · $226k Shing! 2020 · $200k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Dead as Disco · EA $24.99 12,354 96% 371k $9.3M (exactly $9,261,794) Brain Jar Games, Inc.
Anima: Gate of Memories older $19.99 580 70% 17k $348k (exactly $347,826) Anima Project
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
Shing! older $19.99 334 79% 10k $200k (exactly $200,300) Mass Creation
Ultra Age older $24.99 262 80% 7.9k $196k (exactly $196,421) Next Stage Inc., Visual DART Co., Ltd
Pulling No Punches older $9.99 563 95% 17k $169k (exactly $168,731) BrainDead Broccoli
TOUHOU SKY ARENA MATSURI CLIMAX older $19.99 200 86% 6.0k $120k (exactly $119,940) AREAZERO
Isles of Yore · EA older $19.99 127 69% 3.8k $76k (exactly $76,162) MaverickMatryoshka
Hangtime! $9.99 250 77% 7.5k $75k (exactly $74,925) Leo Langlois
Kijutsu Rider $9.99 95 56% 2.9k $28k (exactly $28,472) OmegaMechAnimations
Slime Changer $11.99 12 100% 360 $4.3k (exactly $4,316) MoonJourney
RADIUSBLOOD Crypta · EA $9.99 6 100% 180 $1.8k (exactly $1,798) Luminoware
ICARUS84 $14.99 2 100% 60 $899 (exactly $899) Carmine Inc
Sand Witch Adventures $2.99 5 80% 150 $449 (exactly $449) Gnelf
Medieval Heroes $2.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) Trottomatic
Shadow Runner $7.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) ArcadeDeck

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