Should I ship a PvE Mining game?
PvE + Mining
Of 48 developers who shipped a PvE Mining 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.. 112 more are announced, ×3.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.7k, ×4.3 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $480; 1 in 20 cleared $1.6M, ×2605 the market median. Revenue is down 40% on the market; 112 games are announced against 33 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $478 (exactly $478) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.7k (exactly $2,697) |
| Top 25% | $7.8k (exactly $7,821) |
| Top 5% | $1.6M (exactly $1,635,655) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 48 |
| Released games | 112 |
| Announced | 112 |
| 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 down 40% on the market, supply 120% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 18%, 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, Mining; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Exploration, Roguelike, Action
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 62% positive over 20,732 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $480. 8 in 10 of the 19 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 112 games are announced against 33 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.4 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
ICARUS 2021 · $59M 
Turmoil 2016 · $5.1M 
The Quinfall 2026 · $3.6M 
CryoFall 2021 · $2.9M 
Occupy Mars: The Game 2026 · $2.4M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | ICARUS | older | $34.99 | 55,849 75% | 1.7M | $59M (exactly $58,624,695) | RocketWerkz |
| | Turmoil | older | $12.99 | 13,154 92% | 395k | $5.1M (exactly $5,126,114) | Gamious |
| | The Quinfall | $9.99 | 12,073 50% | 362k | $3.6M (exactly $3,618,278) | Vawraek Technology Inc. | |
| | CryoFall | older | $19.99 | 4,905 78% | 147k | $2.9M (exactly $2,941,528) | AtomicTorch Studio |
| | Occupy Mars: The Game | $29.99 | 2,714 68% | 81k | $2.4M (exactly $2,441,786) | ▲ Pyramid Games | |
 | Rising World | · EA older | $14.99 | 5,310 85% | 159k | $2.4M (exactly $2,387,907) | JIW-Games |
 | Starminer | · EA | $29.99 | 1,818 72% | 55k | $1.6M (exactly $1,635,655) | CoolAndGoodGames |
 | Solar Expanse - Space Exploration Manager | · EA | $17.99 | 1,252 87% | 38k | $676k (exactly $675,704) | SpaceOps |
 | Astronomics | · EA | $19.99 | 706 89% | 21k | $423k (exactly $423,388) | Numizmatic |
 | Stonewards | · EA | $9.99 | 806 94% | 24k | $242k (exactly $241,558) | Banana Tiger Studio |
 | FROGGY HATES SNOW | $14.99 | 456 91% | 14k | $205k (exactly $205,063) | CRYING BRICK | |
 | Kin and Quarry | $9.99 | 400 75% | 12k | $120k (exactly $119,880) | The Fox Knocks | |
 | Rocky Idle | $9.99 | 308 83% | 9.2k | $92k (exactly $92,308) | Rocky Games Studio | |
 | Kin and Conquest | $9.99 | 199 73% | 6.0k | $60k (exactly $59,640) | The Fox Knocks |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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