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Should I ship a Conspiracy PvE game?
PvE + Conspiracy
Only 15 developers shipped a Conspiracy PvE 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, Terrordrome - Reign of the Legends, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 49 more are announced, ×6.1 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. 8 developers shipped in the last year and 49 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $150 (exactly $150) |
|---|---|
| Median | $449 (exactly $449) |
| Top 25% | $9.9k (exactly $9,890) |
| Top 5% | $101k (exactly $100,750) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 15 |
| Released games | 41 |
| Announced | 49 |
| 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 20% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 15%, 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
- Conspiracy
- 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; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Exploration
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Dark, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 86% positive over 530 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 10 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 49 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year, ×6.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
PvE with a different setting or mood, 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
Terrordrome - Reign of the Legends 2024 · $101k 
ECO HOLE 2021 · $67k 
Colony 37 2025 · EA · $20k 
DEATH BURGER 2025 · $13k 
Just Read The Instructions 2024 · EA · $11k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Terrordrome - Reign of the Legends | $19.99 | 168 72% | 5.0k | $101k (exactly $100,750) | Huracan Studio | |
| | ECO HOLE | older | $9.99 | 223 88% | 6.7k | $67k (exactly $66,833) | AIHASTO |
| | Colony 37 | · EA | $2.99 | 224 95% | 6.7k | $20k (exactly $20,093) | Valen |
| | DEATH BURGER | $6.99 | 60 98% | 1.8k | $13k (exactly $12,582) | lemorion_1224 | |
| | Just Read The Instructions | · EA older | $9.99 | 37 48% | 1.1k | $11k (exactly $11,089) | Knackelibang Productions |
 | Inky Blinky Bob | $9.99 | 33 81% | 990 | $9.9k (exactly $9,890) | ELDELIC GAMES | |
 | Chimera CUSTOM XG | · EA | $19.99 | 13 100% | 390 | $7.8k (exactly $7,796) | Volok Games |
 | The Experiment | older | $1.99 | 121 65% | 3.6k | $7.2k (exactly $7,224) | Carrot Studios |
 | Tybot Invasion: The Typing Runner | older | $4.99 | 27 100% | 810 | $4.0k (exactly $4,042) | Sensen Games |
 | ZonZon | older | $4.99 | 26 84% | 780 | $3.9k (exactly $3,892) | Paphnutius |
 | Senatus | $4.99 | 16 81% | 480 | $2.4k (exactly $2,395) | Slashware Interactive, Megalevel | |
 | 異誕監視室 | Monativity Surveillance | $2.99 | 9 44% | 270 | $807 (exactly $807) | Coward_Watson | |
 | Going Dark | $4.99 | 3 100% | 90 | $449 (exactly $449) | Sergiusz Stein | |
 | Appalachian Onslaught | $3.99 | 3 100% | 90 | $359 (exactly $359) | Subtus Studios | |
 | Critternauts | $7.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $240 (exactly $240) | Gergo V |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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