Do I ship it?

Games › Flight › Flight + PvE

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a PvE Flight game?

Flight + PvE

Of 86 developers who shipped a PvE Flight 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.. 144 more are announced, ×2.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $450 in the last 2 years and $450 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 6 / 10 build. 55 developers shipped in the last year and 144 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.7 times the market baseline, revenue up 170% on the market, 144 announced, ×2.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Flight + PvE
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 86
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $479 → $1.8k → $299 → $298 → $1.5k → $360 → $449 (still earning) → $450 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Flight + PvE: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 86
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $449 (exactly $449)
Top 25% $4.2k (exactly $4,196)
Top 5% $229k (exactly $228,524)
Developers, 2 yr 86
Released games 250
Announced 144
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 170% on the market, supply 75% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 13%, 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.

Flight
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
PvE
effort 6 / 10 · low · online co-op against AI still needs the whole netcode stack

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
Flight, PvE; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Shooter, Physics
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
6 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 $7.99.

The top 10 games average 79% positive over 16,546 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $150, median $450, 1 in 4 over $4.1k, 1 in 20 over $220k.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 35 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 144 games are announced against 55 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Flight with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Choose Your Own AdventureFair9 devs · median $2.4k · 11 announced
  2. + Hidden ObjectFair9 devs · median $1.3k · 10 announced
  3. + Quick-Time EventsFair9 devs · median $657 · 9 announced
  4. + CatsFair6 devs · median $629 · 10 announced
  5. + Life SimPoor odds12 devs · median $70k · 29 announced
  6. + TradingPoor odds6 devs · median $36k · 21 announced
  7. + MiningPoor odds10 devs · median $35k · 13 announced
  8. + CraftingPoor odds14 devs · median $19k · 57 announced
  9. + Base BuildingPoor odds23 devs · median $17k · 48 announced
  10. + EconomyPoor odds20 devs · median $15k · 45 announced
  11. + RTSPoor odds14 devs · median $15k · 18 announced
  12. + Cold WarPoor odds10 devs · median $11k · 16 announced

All 132 pairs on the Flight page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Besiege 2020 · $22M EVERSPACE™ 2 2023 · $18M Avorion 2020 · $9.7M Jump Space 2025 · EA · $6.4M Nuclear Option 2023 · EA · $6.2M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Besiege older $14.99 48,045 95% 1.4M $22M (exactly $21,605,836) Spiderling Studios
EVERSPACE™ 2 older $49.99 12,040 85% 361k $18M (exactly $18,056,388) ROCKFISH Games
Avorion older $24.99 13,001 90% 390k $9.7M (exactly $9,746,850) Boxelware
Jump Space · EA $19.99 10,724 85% 322k $6.4M (exactly $6,431,183) Keepsake Games
Nuclear Option · EA older $19.99 10,275 95% 308k $6.2M (exactly $6,161,917) Shockfront Studios
Star Trek: Infinite older $29.99 3,030 41% 91k $2.7M (exactly $2,726,091) Nimble Giant Entertainment
Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions older $29.99 2,790 73% 84k $2.5M (exactly $2,510,163) Unbroken Studios
Lost Skies $24.99 2,470 63% 74k $1.9M (exactly $1,851,759) Bossa Studios
Starminer · EA $29.99 1,818 72% 55k $1.6M (exactly $1,635,655) CoolAndGoodGames
Echoes of Elysium · EA $19.99 506 61% 15k $303k (exactly $303,448) Loric Games, Inc.
G-Rebels · EA $29.99 254 79% 7.6k $229k (exactly $228,524) Reakktor Studios
Remote Reaper: FPV Combat Drone Simulator · EA $19.99 246 92% 7.4k $148k (exactly $147,526) Vladyslav Fomenko
BeastLink · EA $19.99 187 45% 5.6k $112k (exactly $112,144) Grove Street Games
HELL GALAXY $24.99 89 74% 2.7k $67k (exactly $66,723) Italian Games Factory
Virtual Fighter Maneuvers $14.99 138 94% 4.1k $62k (exactly $62,059) Boundless Dynamics, LLC
Vincemus - Air Combat $14.99 114 82% 3.4k $51k (exactly $51,266) Virtual Convict

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