Games › Looter Shooter › Looter Shooter + PvE
Should I ship a PvE Looter Shooter?
Looter Shooter + PvE
Of 105 developers who shipped a PvE Looter Shooter 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.. 275 more are announced, ×4.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.9k, ×2.0 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $240; 1 in 20 cleared $7.5M, ×5025 the market median. Revenue is up 120% on the market; 275 games are announced against 59 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $240 (exactly $240) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.9k (exactly $2,936) |
| Top 25% | $82k (exactly $81,713) |
| Top 5% | $7.5M (exactly $7,526,918) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 105 |
| Released games | 242 |
| Announced | 275 |
| Effort | 8 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 120% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 19%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Looter Shooter
- effort 8 / 10 · low · online co-op and a loot economy on top of a shooter
- PvE
- effort 6 / 10 · low · online co-op against AI still needs the whole netcode stack
What it takes
- Effort
- 8 / 10 · online systems, open world
- Systems
- Looter Shooter, PvE; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Shooter, FPS
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 62% positive over 200,819 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $240. 6 in 10 of the 56 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 275 games are announced against 59 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.7 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Looter Shooter with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + MechsFair
- + Vehicular CombatFair
- + IdlerFair
- + 3D PlatformerLong shot
- + Extraction ShooterPoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
- + Co-opPoor odds
- + Twin Stick ShooterPoor odds
- + DystopianPoor odds
- + Base BuildingPoor odds
- + Character CustomizationPoor odds
- + Inventory ManagementPoor odds
Comparable games
Deep Rock Galactic 2020 · $273M 
PAYDAY 2 2013 · $134M 
Borderlands 4 2025 · $122M 
Escape from Tarkov 2025 · $84M 
REMNANT II® 2023 · $69M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Deep Rock Galactic | older | $29.99 | 303,142 97% | 9.1M | $273M (exactly $272,736,857) | Ghost Ship Games |
| | PAYDAY 2 | older | $9.99 | 445,531 89% | 13M | $134M (exactly $133,525,641) | OVERKILL - a Starbreeze Studio., Sidetr… (OVERKILL - a Starbreeze Studio., Sidetrack Games) |
| | Borderlands 4 | $69.99 | 57,874 59% | 1.7M | $122M (exactly $121,518,038) | Gearbox Software | |
| | Escape from Tarkov | $49.99 | 55,824 49% | 1.7M | $84M (exactly $83,719,253) | Battlestate Games | |
| | REMNANT II® | older | $49.99 | 46,219 82% | 1.4M | $69M (exactly $69,314,634) | Gunfire Games |
 | Tom Clancy’s The Division® 2 | older | $29.99 | 32,600 79% | 978k | $29M (exactly $29,330,220) | Ubisoft |
 | Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League | older | $69.99 | 12,718 60% | 382k | $27M (exactly $26,703,985) | Rocksteady Studios |
 | The Forever Winter | · EA | $29.99 | 21,376 68% | 641k | $19M (exactly $19,231,987) | Fun Dog Studios |
 | EVERSPACE™ 2 | older | $49.99 | 12,040 85% | 361k | $18M (exactly $18,056,388) | ROCKFISH Games |
 | Tiny Tina's Wonderlands | older | $29.99 | 17,779 70% | 533k | $16M (exactly $15,995,766) | Gearbox Software |
 | No More Room in Hell 2 | $29.99 | 16,725 62% | 502k | $15M (exactly $15,047,482) | Torn Banner Studios | |
 | Deadzone: Rogue | $24.99 | 15,041 82% | 451k | $11M (exactly $11,276,238) | Prophecy Games | |
 | John Carpenter's Toxic Commando | $39.99 | 6,274 72% | 188k | $7.5M (exactly $7,526,918) | Saber Interactive | |
 | Jump Space | · EA | $19.99 | 10,724 85% | 322k | $6.4M (exactly $6,431,183) | Keepsake Games |
 | Road to Vostok | · EA | $19.99 | 8,646 84% | 259k | $5.2M (exactly $5,185,006) | Road to Vostok Ltd. |
 | Wildgate | $29.99 | 5,032 77% | 151k | $4.5M (exactly $4,527,290) | Moonshot Games | |
 | SYNDUALITY Echo of Ada | $39.99 | 3,303 40% | 99k | $4.0M (exactly $3,962,609) | Game Studio Inc. |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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