Do I ship it?

GamesPvEPvE + Dating Sim

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a PvE Dating Sim?

PvE + Dating Sim

Only 17 developers shipped a PvE Dating Sim 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, SYNDUALITY Echo of Ada, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 23 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $2.4k, ×3.8 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $780. Revenue is up 1515% on the market; 23 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.8 times the market baseline, revenue up 1515% on the market, 23 announced, ×1.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
PvE + Dating Sim
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 17
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $7.4k → $8.7k → $3.0k (still earning) → $3.0k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for PvE + Dating Sim: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 17
Bottom 30% $779 (exactly $779)
Median $2.4k (exactly $2,397)
Top 25% $8.7k (exactly $8,683)
Top 5% $4.0M (exactly $3,962,609)
Developers, 2 yr 17
Released games 42
Announced 23
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 1515% on the market, supply 140% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 17%, 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
Dating Sim
effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high 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, Dating Sim; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Action-Adventure, Adventure
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $39.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Anime, Cute
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $39.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 49% positive over 4,122 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $780, median $2.4k, 1 in 4 over $8.6k, 1 in 20 over $3.9M.

3 in 10 developers made under $780. 7 in 10 of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 23 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

PvE with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + IdlerFair161 devs · median $1.0k · 229 announced
  2. + MinigamesFair9 devs · median $899 · 14 announced
  3. + TypingFair23 devs · median $719 · 27 announced
  4. + Extraction ShooterPoor odds44 devs · median $163k · 97 announced
  5. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds50 devs · median $85k · 120 announced
  6. + HeistPoor odds18 devs · median $30k · 50 announced
  7. + MMORPGPoor odds34 devs · median $25k · 248 announced
  8. + Real-TimePoor odds10 devs · median $20k · 24 announced
  9. + NavalPoor odds21 devs · median $11k · 59 announced
  10. + SpaceshipsPoor odds16 devs · median $6.3k · 20 announced
  11. + MarsPoor odds10 devs · median $6.3k · 13 announced
  12. + DinosaursPoor odds28 devs · median $5.4k · 43 announced

All 243 pairs on the PvE page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
SYNDUALITY Echo of Ada $39.99 3,303 40% 99k $4.0M (exactly $3,962,609) Game Studio Inc.
Wars and Roses older $19.99 2,435 42% 73k $1.5M (exactly $1,460,270) Blaze Worlds
BoneTown: The Second Coming Edition older $19.99 770 84% 23k $462k (exactly $461,769) D-Dub Software
AURA: Hentai Cards older $9.99 1,045 80% 31k $313k (exactly $313,186) TopHouse Studio, AniCore Team
Tamer: King of Dinosaurs · EA $24.99 347 86% 10k $260k (exactly $260,146) Ride the Lion Studios
BoneCraft older $14.99 252 80% 7.6k $113k (exactly $113,324) D-Dub Software
No Socks RPG $9.99 286 92% 8.6k $86k (exactly $85,714) Spicyfuse
Oedo Trigger!! older $24.99 52 92% 1.6k $39k (exactly $38,984) CQC Software
Stuff It! $9.99 54 87% 1.6k $16k (exactly $16,184) BONNISOFT
MiSa $4.99 58 65% 1.7k $8.7k (exactly $8,683) Hero
Sex Counselor older $4.99 58 75% 1.7k $8.7k (exactly $8,683) Momentum Games
Kessis and her Geeky Secret $7.99 23 95% 690 $5.5k (exactly $5,513) Sonakari
Doki Doki Sharky Days $3.99 25 64% 750 $3.0k (exactly $2,992) Blue Fin Games
Office Ladies™ $8.99 11 100% 330 $3.0k (exactly $2,967) ORGON® Interactive
Moorage · EA $7.99 10 100% 300 $2.4k (exactly $2,397) Daedalus Studios
Apocalypse Cult Leader $14.99 5 40% 150 $2.2k (exactly $2,248) Noxurtica

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