Do I ship it?

GamesPvEPvE + Dogs

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Dog PvE game?

PvE + Dogs

Of 29 developers who shipped a Dog PvE 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.. 29 more are announced.

Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $360 in the last 2 years and $450 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 6 / 10 build. 16 developers shipped in the last year and 29 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.6 times the market baseline, revenue up 140% on the market, 29 announced, ×1.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
PvE + Dogs
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 29
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $239 → $1.9k → $3.7k → $359 → $449 → $1.9k (still earning) → $120 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for PvE + Dogs: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 29
Bottom 30% $120 (exactly $120)
Median $359 (exactly $359)
Top 25% $1.9k (exactly $1,946)
Top 5% $36k (exactly $35,526)
Developers, 2 yr 29
Released games 61
Announced 29
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 up 140% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 16%, 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
Dogs
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 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; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Action Roguelike, Adventure
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, 3D, Colorful
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 89% positive over 585 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $120, median $360, 1 in 4 over $1.9k, 1 in 20 over $35k.

3 in 10 developers made under $120. 9 in 10 of the 14 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 29 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

PvE with a different setting or mood, 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

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl older $49.99 4,311 75% 129k $6.5M (exactly $6,465,207) Ludosity, Fair Play Labs
Arizona Sunshine® VR 2 older $29.99 2,258 84% 68k $2.0M (exactly $2,031,523) Vertigo Games
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 older $49.99 1,013 81% 30k $1.5M (exactly $1,519,196) Fair Play Labs
Oh So Hero! $9.99 255 94% 7.7k $76k (exactly $76,424) Full Frontal Frog
The Good Dog: Chasing Shadows · EA $14.99 79 86% 2.4k $36k (exactly $35,526) Poultry Party Games
Kemono Mahjong older $4.99 142 89% 4.3k $21k (exactly $21,257) Cyberdog Software
Burgle Supply Company $7.99 85 88% 2.6k $20k (exactly $20,374) Terrible Posture Games
TV Kid older $9.99 54 92% 1.6k $16k (exactly $16,184) Astrid Ztar
Go Fight Fantastic older $4.99 68 67% 2.0k $10k (exactly $10,180) Dinomite Games
Mechanines Tower Defense $6.99 34 94% 1.0k $7.1k (exactly $7,130) João Kecek & Camille Regel
Never Ending Beyond $9.99 20 80% 600 $6.0k (exactly $5,994) One More Dream Studios
Pancake Patrol $4.99 25 92% 750 $3.7k (exactly $3,742) Power Plins Games
The Puppy $1.99 62 72% 1.9k $3.7k (exactly $3,701) Moldy&Abet Games, Paper Dudes Game… (Moldy&Abet Games, Paper Dudes Game Studio)
King Charles: Rise of the Alpha · EA $4.99 13 100% 390 $1.9k (exactly $1,946) DodoModo, BoppoLoppo
Atura $5.99 6 100% 180 $1.1k (exactly $1,078) Onatsu Studio
The TEAM game:Corgi&me $5.99 6 100% 180 $1.1k (exactly $1,078) Surgical

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