Do I ship it?

Games › PvE › PvE + Collectathon

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a PvE Collectathon game?

PvE + Collectathon

Of 112 developers who shipped a PvE Collectathon 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.. 170 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $600, level with the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $120; 1 in 20 cleared $64k, ×103 the market median. Revenue is down 35% on the market; 170 games are announced against 57 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.0 times the market baseline, revenue down 35% on the market, 170 announced, ×3.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
PvE + Collectathon
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 112
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $449 → $1.8k → $449 → $1.0k → $718 → $449 → $299 (still earning) → $449 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for PvE + Collectathon: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 112
Bottom 30% $119 (exactly $119)
Median $600 (exactly $600)
Top 25% $4.7k (exactly $4,672)
Top 5% $65k (exactly $64,820)
Developers, 2 yr 112
Released games 272
Announced 170
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 35% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.

Free games: 18%, 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
Collectathon
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium 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, Collectathon; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Exploration
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, Cute
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 83% positive over 4,263 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $120, median $600, 1 in 4 over $4.6k, 1 in 20 over $64k.

3 in 10 developers made under $120. 9 in 10 of the 72 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 170 games are announced against 57 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 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

Temtem 2022 · $42M Lunch Lady 2021 · $1.5M Little Noah: Scion of Paradise 2022 · $977k Rustil: Eternal Labyrinth Castle 2026 · $541k Astronomics 2025 · EA · $423k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Temtem older $44.99 31,263 82% 938k $42M (exactly $42,195,671) Crema
Lunch Lady older $4.99 9,722 86% 292k $1.5M (exactly $1,455,383) Manic Mice
Little Noah: Scion of Paradise older $14.99 2,172 92% 65k $977k (exactly $976,748) Cygames, Inc., Grounding Inc.
Rustil: Eternal Labyrinth Castle $18.99 950 71% 29k $541k (exactly $541,215) KTMG LLC.
Astronomics · EA $19.99 706 89% 21k $423k (exactly $423,388) Numizmatic
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)
Paranormal Cleanup $9.99 961 88% 29k $288k (exactly $288,012) Manic Mice
Sea Fantasy $14.99 585 86% 18k $263k (exactly $263,074) METASLA
Decline's Drops $14.99 170 96% 5.1k $76k (exactly $76,449) Le Moulin aux Bulles
Deadline Escape · EA $4.99 433 84% 13k $65k (exactly $64,820) DeadlineEscape
Game of Grass $6.99 275 84% 8.3k $58k (exactly $57,668) Hipsterdufus
Creature Keeper $14.99 101 67% 3.0k $45k (exactly $45,420) Fervir Games
OUTCLAW $24.99 44 93% 1.3k $33k (exactly $32,987) Moss Monkey
Deadhaus Sonata · EA $19.99 38 68% 1.1k $23k (exactly $22,789) Apocalypse Studios

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