Should I ship a Mars PvE game?
PvE + Mars
Only 10 developers shipped a Mars PvE game in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Occupy Mars: The Game, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 13 more are announced, ×2.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $6.3k, ×10 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $2.4M, ×3888 the market median. Revenue is up 1795% on the market; 13 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $450 (exactly $450) |
|---|---|
| Median | $6.3k (exactly $6,296) |
| Top 25% | $53k (exactly $53,347) |
| Top 5% | $2.4M (exactly $2,441,786) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 10 |
| Released games | 26 |
| Announced | 13 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $14.99 |
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 1795% on the market, supply as many developers as 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.
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- PvE
- Price point
- $14.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 9 games average 73% positive over 3,462 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $450. 8 in 10 of the 5 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 13 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
PvE with a different setting or mood, 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
- + DinosaursPoor odds
Comparable games
Occupy Mars: The Game 2026 · $2.4M 
Calyx 2026 · EA · $353k 
1 Trait Escape 2024 · $53k 
Earth vs Mars 2025 · $33k 
MARS 2120 2024 · $22k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Occupy Mars: The Game | $29.99 | 2,714 68% | 81k | $2.4M (exactly $2,441,786) | ▲ Pyramid Games | |
| | Calyx | · EA | $24.99 | 471 88% | 14k | $353k (exactly $353,109) | Studio 568 |
| | 1 Trait Escape | $9.99 | 178 97% | 5.3k | $53k (exactly $53,347) | Andrew Katz, Jeremy Collette | |
| | Earth vs Mars | $14.99 | 74 85% | 2.2k | $33k (exactly $33,278) | Relic Entertainment | |
| | MARS 2120 | older | $14.99 | 50 78% | 1.5k | $22k (exactly $22,485) | QUByte Interactive |
 | MechNest | older | $15.99 | 14 71% | 420 | $6.7k (exactly $6,716) | PoisonGames |
 | Star Titans : War of the Galaxy | $14.99 | 14 92% | 420 | $6.3k (exactly $6,296) | Mediawork | |
 | Scionide | · EA | $14.99 | 7 71% | 210 | $3.1k (exactly $3,148) | SYONIX |
 | The Echoes of Mars | older | $3.99 | 19 73% | 570 | $2.3k (exactly $2,274) | Georgii Antipin |
 | Melon Dusk | · EA older | $1.99 | 23 86% | 690 | $1.4k (exactly $1,373) | SeedWall |
 | Rank: Warmaster Bunker Buster | $14.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $450 (exactly $450) | Laser Beams & Particle Streams Soft… (Laser Beams & Particle Streams Software, Inc.) | |
 | Bryan's Indie Collection | $4.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $150 (exactly $150) | Bryan Veres | |
 | Cowboy In Space | $0.99 | 2 100% | 60 | $59 (exactly $59) | Da Waffle H8ter | |
 | Tretrais | · EA | $3.00 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | DJAS Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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