Do I ship it?

Games › PvE › PvE + Gambling

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a PvE Gambling game?

PvE + Gambling

Of 33 developers who shipped a PvE Gambling 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.. 63 more are announced, ×3.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.3k, ×2.1 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $120k, ×205 the market median. Revenue is down 55% on the market; 63 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.1 times the market baseline, revenue down 55% on the market, 63 announced, ×3.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
PvE + Gambling
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 33
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $599 → $360 → $836 → $19k → $3.2k → $2.6k (still earning) → $90 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for PvE + Gambling: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 33
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $1.3k (exactly $1,317)
Top 25% $4.5k (exactly $4,500)
Top 5% $128k (exactly $128,443)
Developers, 2 yr 33
Released games 71
Announced 63
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 55% on the market, supply 55% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 32%, 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
Gambling
effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 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, Gambling; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Card Battler, Card Game
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person, 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 79% positive over 2,071 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 $1.3k, 1 in 4 over $4.5k, 1 in 20 over $120k.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. 7 in 10 of the 22 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 63 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.2 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

All in Abyss: Judge the Fake 2025 · $180k SIDE EFFECTS 2025 · $128k Slot & Dungeons 2026 · $82k Boo! Are you scared? The Chests Game 2025 · $20k GABANG: ULTIMATE 2025 · $19k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
All in Abyss: Judge the Fake $15.99 375 54% 11k $180k (exactly $179,888) ACQUIRE Corp., WSS playground
SIDE EFFECTS $4.99 858 83% 26k $128k (exactly $128,443) hirohun, Mr.Pootsley, Jaybooty, Lofar42
Slot & Dungeons $8.99 304 83% 9.1k $82k (exactly $81,989) MUC GAMES
Boo! Are you scared? The Chests Game $2.99 225 93% 6.8k $20k (exactly $20,182) Inanity Catchers Team
GABANG: ULTIMATE $9.99 62 90% 1.9k $19k (exactly $18,581) MOL?ASTUDIO
LUCKROT $4.99 104 91% 3.1k $16k (exactly $15,569) OptiCube
Anomaly Mahjong $4.99 94 65% 2.8k $14k (exactly $14,072) YUTAMARO WORLD
Poker TD $9.99 19 63% 570 $5.7k (exactly $5,694) ViralCloud
Poker Dungeon : Joker's Madness · EA older $8.99 21 90% 630 $5.7k (exactly $5,664) fishbone games
Soul Taker $10.00 15 93% 450 $4.5k (exactly $4,500) SlovGoblin
Sunday League Manager: Horse and Spoon $8.99 15 93% 450 $4.0k (exactly $4,046) christianosway

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