Should I ship a PvE Cooking game?
PvE + Cooking
Of 29 developers who shipped a PvE Cooking 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.. 111 more are announced, ×5.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.5k, ×2.4 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $420; 1 in 20 cleared $270k, ×441 the market median. Revenue is up 200% on the market; 111 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $419 (exactly $419) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.5k (exactly $1,498) |
| Top 25% | $12k (exactly $12,081) |
| Top 5% | $277k (exactly $276,767) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 29 |
| Released games | 74 |
| Announced | 111 |
| Effort | 6 / 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 up 200% on the market, supply 135% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 19%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- PvE, Cooking; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, RPG, Adventure
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Anime, Comedy
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 53% positive over 13,370 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $420. 9 in 10 of the 18 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 111 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.3 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
The Quinfall 2026 · $3.6M 
Never Grave: The Witch and The Curse 2026 · $277k 
HYKE:Northern Light(s) 2025 · $203k 
Korea Dynasty (조선메타실록) 2023 · EA · $192k 
Pizza Bandit 2025 · EA · $139k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | The Quinfall | $9.99 | 12,073 50% | 362k | $3.6M (exactly $3,618,278) | Vawraek Technology Inc. | |
| | Never Grave: The Witch and The Curse | $16.99 | 543 72% | 16k | $277k (exactly $276,767) | Frontside 180 | |
| | HYKE:Northern Light(s) | $27.99 | 242 73% | 7.3k | $203k (exactly $203,207) | Akatsuki Games Inc., Blast Edge Games I… (Akatsuki Games Inc., Blast Edge Games Inc.) | |
| | Korea Dynasty (조선메타실록) | · EA older | $23.99 | 267 72% | 8.0k | $192k (exactly $192,160) | Happy Daram Inc. |
| | Pizza Bandit | · EA | $24.99 | 185 82% | 5.6k | $139k (exactly $138,694) | JOFSOFT |
 | Lighthouse Keeper | older | $11.99 | 336 81% | 10k | $121k (exactly $120,859) | Stratera Games |
 | Katy and Bob: Safari Cafe | older | $14.99 | 193 88% | 5.8k | $87k (exactly $86,792) | Creobit, Workroom7 |
 | Katy and Bob Way Back Home | older | $14.99 | 105 81% | 3.2k | $47k (exactly $47,218) | Creobit |
 | Katy & Bob: Cake Cafe | older | $14.99 | 84 82% | 2.5k | $38k (exactly $37,775) | Workroom7 |
 | GladiEATers | · EA | $14.99 | 69 92% | 2.1k | $31k (exactly $31,029) | MilkBubblesGames |
 | Town of Zoz | $19.99 | 50 70% | 1.5k | $30k (exactly $29,985) | Studio Pixanoh | |
 | Burger Bots Inc. | $7.99 | 109 91% | 3.3k | $26k (exactly $26,127) | Normogames | |
 | Food Wagon | · EA | $12.99 | 31 77% | 930 | $12k (exactly $12,081) | Luminous Tales |
 | The OG Cake Factory | $6.99 | 51 74% | 1.5k | $11k (exactly $10,695) | Glaseeze | |
 | Lorne | · EA | $14.99 | 17 88% | 510 | $7.6k (exactly $7,645) | Lorne Studios |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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