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.
| 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.
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; 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
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.
What kills games here
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.
Adjacent niches
PvE with a different setting or mood, 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
| 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.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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