Do I ship it?

Games › PvE › PvE + Dynamic Narration

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a PvE Dynamic Narration game?

PvE + Dynamic Narration

Of 20 developers who shipped a PvE Dynamic Narration 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.. 41 more are announced, ×3.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $360 in the last 2 years and $270 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 6 / 10 build. 12 developers shipped in the last year and 41 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.6 times the market baseline, revenue down 50% on the market, 41 announced, ×3.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
PvE + Dynamic Narration
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 20
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $449 → $505 → $628 → $12k → $90 (still earning) → $359 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for PvE + Dynamic Narration: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 20
Bottom 30% $30 (exactly $30)
Median $359 (exactly $359)
Top 25% $1.6k (exactly $1,647)
Top 5% $32k (exactly $31,940)
Developers, 2 yr 20
Released games 46
Announced 41
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 down 50% on the market, supply 50% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 24%, 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
Dynamic Narration
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, Dynamic Narration; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Choices Matter, Combat
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
8 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 90% positive over 655 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $50, median $360, 1 in 4 over $1.6k, 1 in 20 over $31k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. 8 in 10 of the 13 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 41 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.4 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

PvE with a different second tag, 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

Linguist FPS - The Language Learning FPS 2022 · $86k Writer's Rush 2024 · $72k 5 NIGHTS AT SHALUN 4: SCHOOL 2024 · $32k NAPOLEON: RULE OF IRON 2025 · $13k Five nights at Floppa 0 2022 · $13k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Linguist FPS - The Language Learning FPS older $14.99 192 71% 5.8k $86k (exactly $86,342) Rocket Boy Games
Writer's Rush older $5.99 402 74% 12k $72k (exactly $72,239) Frogstorm
5 NIGHTS AT SHALUN 4: SCHOOL $1.99 535 93% 16k $32k (exactly $31,940) Team GZ, VADIM CHURILOV
NAPOLEON: RULE OF IRON $19.99 22 90% 660 $13k (exactly $13,193) Eisengeist Studio
Five nights at Floppa 0 older $3.99 106 96% 3.2k $13k (exactly $12,688) FreezyCat
Steel Knight's ARMIS $9.99 40 57% 1.2k $12k (exactly $11,988) Izanami Game Lab, Inc., FORCES
Yosemite Forest Ranger · EA older $14.99 15 60% 450 $6.7k (exactly $6,746) TT Studios
DawnWander · EA older $9.99 17 23% 510 $5.1k (exactly $5,095) DarkTree Development
Empire of Vice : Chicago · EA $16.99 9 77% 270 $4.6k (exactly $4,587) Artifex Parvus
NARGUL - Humans are among us older $11.99 9 66% 270 $3.2k (exactly $3,237) 3DDD Games
Hate-Gem Rise Of Demon · EA $4.99 11 100% 330 $1.6k (exactly $1,647) ElLeonGamer
Domain of Hallucination · EA $2.99 7 100% 210 $628 (exactly $628) Livio Cozzio, Marcel Schürch, Carla Wid… (Livio Cozzio, Marcel Schürch, Carla Widmer, Jonas Wiesli, rnaisa)
Hentai Clicker: Maria is streaming $2.99 7 57% 210 $628 (exactly $628) Sexy Baguette Studio
Gems are Mine, Slashes are Yours: Blood & Blessing $9.99 2 0% 60 $599 (exactly $599) DIM Games
Kill Dee $0.99 17 82% 510 $505 (exactly $505) BYE BYE, BUYBYEGames
Hentai Clicker: Nina is streaming $2.99 5 80% 150 $449 (exactly $449) Sexy Baguette Studio

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