Do I ship it?

Games › Hunting › Hunting + PvE

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a PvE Hunting game?

Hunting + PvE

Of 34 developers who shipped a PvE Hunting 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.. 90 more are announced, ×4.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $3.1k, ×5.0 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $10M, ×16491 the market median. Revenue is up 540% on the market; 90 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 5.0 times the market baseline, revenue up 540% on the market, 90 announced, ×4.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Hunting + PvE
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 34
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.8k → $77 → $450 → $1.7k → $2.7k → $1.3k → $3.1k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Hunting + PvE: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 34
Bottom 30% $299 (exactly $299)
Median $3.1k (exactly $3,144)
Top 25% $23k (exactly $22,935)
Top 5% $10M (exactly $10,356,447)
Developers, 2 yr 34
Released games 109
Announced 90
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 540% on the market, supply 60% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 16%, 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.

Hunting
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
Hunting, PvE; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Co-op, Exploration
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 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 $29.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 74% positive over 48,402 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $300, median $3.1k, 1 in 4 over $22k, 1 in 20 over $10M.

3 in 10 developers made under $300. 7 in 10 of the 19 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 90 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.3 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Post-apocalypticPoor odds19 devs · median $33k · 29 announced
  2. + Base BuildingPoor odds24 devs · median $29k · 70 announced
  3. + Co-opPoor odds30 devs · median $22k · 58 announced
  4. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds19 devs · median $22k · 29 announced
  5. + Online Co-OpPoor odds31 devs · median $18k · 56 announced
  6. + AgriculturePoor odds14 devs · median $15k · 20 announced
  7. + SandboxPoor odds37 devs · median $12k · 77 announced
  8. + MagicPoor odds10 devs · median $9.0k · 20 announced
  9. + SimulationPoor odds76 devs · median $5.7k · 128 announced
  10. + BuildingPoor odds37 devs · median $4.8k · 79 announced
  11. + CraftingPoor odds50 devs · median $4.8k · 116 announced
  12. + RoguelikePoor odds11 devs · median $4.8k · 11 announced

All 72 pairs on the Hunting page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

MONSTER HUNTER RISE 2022 · $96M Soulmask 2026 · $17M Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin 2021 · $14M WolfQuest: Anniversary Edition 2025 · $10M The Quinfall 2026 · $3.6M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
MONSTER HUNTER RISE older $39.99 79,847 84% 2.4M $96M (exactly $95,792,446) CAPCOM Co., Ltd.
Soulmask $29.99 18,445 76% 553k $17M (exactly $16,594,966) CampFire Studio
Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin older $39.99 11,845 82% 355k $14M (exactly $14,210,446) CAPCOM Co., Ltd.
WolfQuest: Anniversary Edition $29.99 11,511 97% 345k $10M (exactly $10,356,447) eduweb
The Quinfall $9.99 12,073 50% 362k $3.6M (exactly $3,618,278) Vawraek Technology Inc.
Rising World · EA older $14.99 5,310 85% 159k $2.4M (exactly $2,387,907) JIW-Games
Animalia Survival · EA older $19.99 2,823 64% 85k $1.7M (exactly $1,692,953) High Brazil Studio
FREEDOM WARS Remastered $39.99 1,211 69% 36k $1.5M (exactly $1,452,837) Dimps Corporation
IfSunSets · EA $19.99 2,284 74% 69k $1.4M (exactly $1,369,715) POLYMORPH
WolfQuest: Classic $29.99 1,401 90% 42k $1.3M (exactly $1,260,480) eduweb
Deathground · EA $14.99 877 61% 26k $394k (exactly $394,387) Jaw Drop Games
Fera: The Sundered Tribes · EA $9.99 394 57% 12k $118k (exactly $118,082) Massive Damage, Inc.
Hunters Inc $14.99 155 56% 4.7k $70k (exactly $69,704) WYLDERZONE
Ember's Verge $14.99 51 88% 1.5k $23k (exactly $22,935) Feralless Games

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