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Should I ship a PvE Investigation game?
PvE + Investigation
Of 75 developers who shipped a PvE Investigation 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.. 129 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 $630, level with the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $210; 1 in 20 cleared $130k, ×217 the market median. Revenue is up 35% on the market; 129 games are announced against 40 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $210 (exactly $210) |
|---|---|
| Median | $628 (exactly $628) |
| Top 25% | $3.0k (exactly $2,997) |
| Top 5% | $136k (exactly $136,389) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 75 |
| Released games | 164 |
| Announced | 129 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $5.99 |
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 35% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 13%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Investigation
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- PvE, Investigation; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Exploration, Action, Action-Adventure
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
- Art
- 7 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Atmospheric, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 90% positive over 13,899 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $210. 9 in 10 of the 44 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 129 games are announced against 40 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
PvE with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Dating SimFair
- + IdlerFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + TypingFair
- + Extraction ShooterPoor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + HeistPoor odds
- + MMORPGPoor odds
- + Real-TimePoor odds
- + NavalPoor odds
- + SpaceshipsPoor odds
- + MarsPoor odds
Comparable games
Project Winter 2019 · $4.1M 
Deceive Inc. 2023 · $2.9M 
Species: Unknown 2025 · EA · $2.8M 
Ghost Exile 2022 · EA · $1.7M 
Whisper Mountain Outbreak 2025 · EA · $580k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Project Winter | older | $9.99 | 13,662 84% | 410k | $4.1M (exactly $4,094,501) | Other Ocean Interactive |
| | Deceive Inc. | older | $19.99 | 4,755 84% | 143k | $2.9M (exactly $2,851,574) | Sweet Bandits Studios |
| | Species: Unknown | · EA | $9.99 | 9,437 94% | 283k | $2.8M (exactly $2,828,269) | WanadevStudio |
| | Ghost Exile | · EA older | $14.99 | 3,686 88% | 111k | $1.7M (exactly $1,657,594) | LostOneTeam |
| | Whisper Mountain Outbreak | · EA | $7.99 | 2,421 84% | 73k | $580k (exactly $580,314) | Toge Productions |
 | Fear Therapy | · EA older | $4.99 | 3,630 68% | 109k | $543k (exactly $543,411) | Black Flag Studios |
 | The Divine Invasion | older | $14.99 | 690 79% | 21k | $310k (exactly $310,293) | Whale Rock Games |
 | Ghost Janitors | $9.99 | 917 87% | 28k | $275k (exactly $274,825) | Interactive Wave Studio | |
 | Conrad Stevenson's Paranormal P.I. | older | $9.99 | 860 93% | 26k | $258k (exactly $257,742) | D&A Studios |
 | This is a Ghost | older | $16.99 | 367 92% | 11k | $187k (exactly $187,060) | Nuci |
 | Bureau of Contacts | $7.99 | 569 81% | 17k | $136k (exactly $136,389) | MIROWIN | |
 | DRUDGE | · EA | $12.99 | 139 94% | 4.2k | $54k (exactly $54,168) | Writegg |
 | Among The Whispers - Provocation | $14.99 | 101 79% | 3.0k | $45k (exactly $45,420) | D&A Studios | |
 | The Good Dog: Chasing Shadows | · EA | $14.99 | 79 86% | 2.4k | $36k (exactly $35,526) | Poultry Party Games |
 | Deadly Quiet | $9.75 | 89 55% | 2.7k | $26k (exactly $26,032) | Tarba Paul Cornel, Abdul Rafy | |
 | Macabre | · EA | $9.99 | 82 53% | 2.5k | $25k (exactly $24,575) | Weforge Studio |
 | DOOMED Detective Game | $6.99 | 65 46% | 2.0k | $14k (exactly $13,630) | Azikton Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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