Do I ship it?

Games › Destruction › Destruction + PvE

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a PvE Destruction game?

Destruction + PvE

Of 78 developers who shipped a PvE Destruction 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.. 183 more are announced, ×4.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $900, ×1.4 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $850k, ×1356 the market median. Revenue is down 60% on the market; 183 games are announced against 42 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.4 times the market baseline, revenue down 60% on the market, 183 announced, ×4.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Destruction + PvE
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 78
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $17k → $597 → $1.8k → $2.8k → $4.2k → $539 → $479 (still earning) → $2.1k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Destruction + PvE: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 78
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $899 (exactly $899)
Top 25% $10k (exactly $10,190)
Top 5% $852k (exactly $851,659)
Developers, 2 yr 78
Released games 216
Announced 183
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $6.99

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 60% on the market, supply 15% 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.

Destruction
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
PvE
effort 6 / 10 · low · online co-op against AI still needs the whole netcode stack

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
Destruction, PvE; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Combat, Shooter
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person, Third Person
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 82% positive over 15,212 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $150, median $900, 1 in 4 over $10k, 1 in 20 over $850k.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 44 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 183 games are announced against 42 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.4 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Space SimFair14 devs · median $3.7k · 22 announced
  2. + ModernFair26 devs · median $1.6k · 28 announced
  3. + God GameFair19 devs · median $899 · 20 announced
  4. + Hidden ObjectFair9 devs · median $719 · 14 announced
  5. + Hack and SlashPoor odds19 devs · median $43k · 57 announced
  6. + HistoricalPoor odds15 devs · median $26k · 22 announced
  7. + CapitalismPoor odds17 devs · median $15k · 46 announced
  8. + Online Co-OpPoor odds37 devs · median $13k · 102 announced
  9. + Co-opPoor odds50 devs · median $11k · 113 announced
  10. + Automobile SimPoor odds22 devs · median $9.0k · 44 announced
  11. + ManagementPoor odds36 devs · median $6.1k · 129 announced
  12. + AutomationPoor odds22 devs · median $6.0k · 46 announced

All 139 pairs on the Destruction page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Besiege 2020 · $22M MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries 2021 · $12M Exoprimal 2023 · $4.6M Over The Top: WWI 2026 · $3.8M Everwind 2026 · EA · $2.6M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Besiege older $14.99 48,045 95% 1.4M $22M (exactly $21,605,836) Spiderling Studios
MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries older $29.99 13,347 84% 400k $12M (exactly $12,008,296) Piranha Games Inc.
Exoprimal older $59.99 2,581 76% 77k $4.6M (exactly $4,645,026) CAPCOM Co., Ltd.
Over The Top: WWI $19.14 6,683 84% 200k $3.8M (exactly $3,837,379) Flying Squirrel Entertainment
Everwind · EA $24.99 3,454 81% 104k $2.6M (exactly $2,589,464) Enjoy Studio S.A.
TRAIL OUT older $19.99 3,019 81% 91k $1.8M (exactly $1,810,494) GOOD BOYS
Call to Arms: Panzer Elite · EA $29.99 1,927 69% 58k $1.7M (exactly $1,733,722) Digitalmindsoft
Warbox · EA older $9.99 3,430 55% 103k $1.0M (exactly $1,027,971) Mantaliss
The Scouring · EA $24.99 1,136 88% 34k $852k (exactly $851,659) Orc Group
Clone Drone in the Hyperdome $19.99 1,048 91% 31k $628k (exactly $628,486) Doborog Games
Annihilate The Spance · EA $29.99 347 90% 10k $312k (exactly $312,196) Skyglow Softworks
BeastLink · EA $19.99 187 45% 5.6k $112k (exactly $112,144) Grove Street Games
Excidio The Kaiju Simulator $12.99 244 92% 7.3k $95k (exactly $95,087) TokuPop
Masks of the Void: Origins $14.99 108 97% 3.2k $49k (exactly $48,568) ROLLDBOX GAMES
Voxile · EA $17.99 78 69% 2.3k $42k (exactly $42,097) VoxRay Games, Inc.

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