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Should I ship a PvP Dungeon Crawler?
PvP + Dungeon Crawler
Of 50 developers who shipped a PvP Dungeon Crawler 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.. 159 more are announced, ×4.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.1k, ×1.4 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $6.4M, ×4302 the market median. Revenue is down 20% on the market; 159 games are announced against 33 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $300 (exactly $300) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.1k (exactly $2,098) |
| Top 25% | $13k (exactly $12,587) |
| Top 5% | $6.4M (exactly $6,444,551) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 50 |
| Released games | 158 |
| Announced | 159 |
| Effort | 8 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 20% on the market, supply 95% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 39%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- PvP
- effort 8 / 10 · low · authoritative servers, latency compensation, cheating
- Dungeon Crawler
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 8 / 10 · online systems, open world
- Systems
- PvP, Dungeon Crawler; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry PvE, Action, Online Co-Op
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Third Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 66% positive over 49,126 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 8 in 10 of the 27 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 159 games are announced against 33 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
PvP with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + BaseballFair
- + TransportationFair
- + BasketballFair
- + Football (American)Fair
- + BikesFair
- + GolfFair
- + World War IFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + BilliardsFair
- + TennisLong shot
- + TypingLong shot
- + SpellingLong shot
Comparable games
Mistfall Hunter 2026 · $12M 
Fellowship 2025 · EA · $12M 
Pax Dei 2025 · $6.4M 
Lost Castle / 失落城堡 2016 · $5.5M 
MIMESIS 2025 · EA · $2.5M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Mistfall Hunter | $24.99 | 16,045 53% | 481k | $12M (exactly $12,028,936) | Bellring Games | |
| | Fellowship | · EA | $24.99 | 15,357 74% | 461k | $12M (exactly $11,513,143) | Chief Rebel |
| | Pax Dei | $29.99 | 7,163 56% | 215k | $6.4M (exactly $6,444,551) | Mainframe Industries | |
| | Lost Castle / 失落城堡 | older | $9.99 | 18,417 87% | 553k | $5.5M (exactly $5,519,575) | Hunter Studio |
| | MIMESIS | · EA | $9.99 | 8,396 84% | 252k | $2.5M (exactly $2,516,281) | ReLU Games, Inc. |
 | Blazing Beaks | older | $14.99 | 2,043 84% | 61k | $919k (exactly $918,737) | Applava |
 | LET IT DIE: INFERNO | $24.99 | 774 52% | 23k | $580k (exactly $580,268) | SUPERTRICK GAMES, Inc. | |
 | Bravery and Greed | older | $19.99 | 640 78% | 19k | $384k (exactly $383,808) | Rekka Games |
 | Clank! | $22.99 | 542 92% | 16k | $374k (exactly $373,817) | Dire Wolf | |
 | Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon | older | $19.99 | 518 91% | 16k | $311k (exactly $310,645) | VINE, Yacht Club Games |
 | Backpack Jianghu | $13.99 | 565 80% | 17k | $237k (exactly $237,130) | 背包工作室 | |
 | Valefor | $14.99 | 133 66% | 4.0k | $60k (exactly $59,810) | Valefor Ltd | |
 | SHRIMP GAME: OVERKRILL | $11.99 | 93 89% | 2.8k | $33k (exactly $33,452) | GasGod Games, GLUE MAN | |
 | Native Hunter | $17.99 | 58 72% | 1.7k | $31k (exactly $31,303) | A.P.S |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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