Do I ship it?

Games › PvE › PvE + Fishing

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a PvE Fishing game?

PvE + Fishing

Of 32 developers who shipped a PvE Fishing 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.. 87 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 $2.4k, ×3.8 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $3.6M, ×5762 the market median. Revenue is up 45% on the market; 87 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.8 times the market baseline, revenue up 45% on the market, 87 announced, ×4.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
PvE + Fishing
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 32
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $9.4k → $958 → $5.4k → $1.7k → $959 (still earning) → $2.5k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for PvE + Fishing: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 32
Bottom 30% $359 (exactly $359)
Median $2.4k (exactly $2,397)
Top 25% $105k (exactly $105,345)
Top 5% $3.6M (exactly $3,618,278)
Developers, 2 yr 32
Released games 70
Announced 87
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $7.99

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 45% on the market, supply 65% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 26%, 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
Fishing
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium 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, Fishing; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Action, Character Customization
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Colorful, First-Person
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 87% positive over 74,774 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $360, median $2.4k, 1 in 4 over $100k, 1 in 20 over $3.6M.

3 in 10 developers made under $360. 7 in 10 of the 18 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 87 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.4 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

How to Fish 2026 · $14M The Quinfall 2026 · $3.6M CryoFall 2021 · $2.9M Salt 2: Shores of Gold 2025 · $1.3M Sea Fantasy 2025 · $263k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
How to Fish $7.99 57,661 95% 1.7M $14M (exactly $13,821,342) Dazed Games
The Quinfall $9.99 12,073 50% 362k $3.6M (exactly $3,618,278) Vawraek Technology Inc.
CryoFall older $19.99 4,905 78% 147k $2.9M (exactly $2,941,528) AtomicTorch Studio
Salt 2: Shores of Gold $19.99 2,182 85% 65k $1.3M (exactly $1,308,545) Lavaboots Studios
Sea Fantasy $14.99 585 86% 18k $263k (exactly $263,074) METASLA
Voodoo Fishin' · EA $9.99 800 81% 24k $240k (exactly $239,760) Lost Arcade
Luminary · EA $19.99 343 74% 10k $206k (exactly $205,697) Refractive Entertainment
Fish Hunters: Most Lethal Fishing Simulator 🐟 $9.99 562 58% 17k $168k (exactly $168,431) Pmdk23
Lighthouse Keeper older $11.99 336 81% 10k $121k (exactly $120,859) Stratera Games
Project Hunt older $24.99 155 88% 4.7k $116k (exactly $116,204) Mind Mythic
Forest Doesn’t Care $13.99 251 65% 7.5k $105k (exactly $105,345) MOROZ GAMES
Knights End $7.99 286 90% 8.6k $69k (exactly $68,554) Knight Shift Studios
The Isle of Cats $14.99 31 83% 930 $14k (exactly $13,941) Dire Wolf

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