Do I ship it?

Games › PvE › PvE + Creature Collector

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a PvE Creature Collector?

PvE + Creature Collector

Of 92 developers who shipped a PvE Creature Collector 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.. 213 more are announced, ×4.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $2.6k, ×4.2 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $540k, ×862 the market median. Revenue is up 60% on the market; 213 games are announced against 51 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 4.2 times the market baseline, revenue up 60% on the market, 213 announced, ×4.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
PvE + Creature Collector
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 92
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $9.5k → $359 → $1.9k → $2.9k → $5.4k → $1.8k → $6.0k (still earning) → $1.6k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for PvE + Creature Collector: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 92
Bottom 30% $360 (exactly $360)
Median $2.6k (exactly $2,637)
Top 25% $32k (exactly $31,903)
Top 5% $541k (exactly $541,215)
Developers, 2 yr 92
Released games 191
Announced 213
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $7.99

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 60% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 24%, 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
Creature Collector
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 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, Creature Collector; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, RPG, Exploration
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $22.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Cute, Colorful
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $22.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 86% positive over 14,124 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $360, median $2.6k, 1 in 4 over $31k, 1 in 20 over $540k.

3 in 10 developers made under $360. 8 in 10 of the 53 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 213 games are announced against 51 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.2 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 Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin 2021 · $14M Voidling Bound 2026 · $2.3M Towers of Aghasba 2024 · EA · $1.7M Witchspire 2026 · EA · $1.3M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Temtem older $44.99 31,263 82% 938k $42M (exactly $42,195,671) Crema
Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin older $39.99 11,845 82% 355k $14M (exactly $14,210,446) CAPCOM Co., Ltd.
Voidling Bound $24.99 3,126 92% 94k $2.3M (exactly $2,343,562) Hatchery Games
Towers of Aghasba · EA $29.99 1,904 67% 57k $1.7M (exactly $1,713,029) Dreamlit inc.
Witchspire · EA $22.99 1,849 82% 55k $1.3M (exactly $1,275,255) Envar Games
Kabuto Park $4.99 4,329 99% 130k $648k (exactly $648,051) Doot
Rustil: Eternal Labyrinth Castle $18.99 950 71% 29k $541k (exactly $541,215) KTMG LLC.
Lugh World · EA $14.99 458 68% 14k $206k (exactly $205,963) Lughsoft
Strange Seed $14.99 431 86% 13k $194k (exactly $193,821) Chronicle Games Ltd
Kādomon: Hyper Auto Battlers $9.99 543 65% 16k $163k (exactly $162,737) Dino Rocket
Stackmon $13.99 364 75% 11k $153k (exactly $152,771) Riftpoint Entertainment
Monster Crown: Sin Eater $24.99 170 85% 5.1k $127k (exactly $127,449) Studio Aurum

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