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Should I ship a PvE Mystery Dungeon?
PvE + Mystery Dungeon
Of 65 developers who shipped a PvE Mystery Dungeon 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.. 107 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $450, ×0.7 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $140k, ×229 the market median. Revenue is up 10% on the market; 107 games are announced against 38 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $150 (exactly $150) |
|---|---|
| Median | $449 (exactly $449) |
| Top 25% | $2.8k (exactly $2,848) |
| Top 5% | $144k (exactly $143,928) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 65 |
| Released games | 128 |
| Announced | 107 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $4.99 |
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 10% on the market, supply 40% 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
- Mystery Dungeon
- 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, Mystery Dungeon; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Dungeon Crawler, RPG
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 86% positive over 6,313 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 30 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 107 games are announced against 38 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 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
Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy 2026 · $5.3M 
ENDLESS Dungeon™ - Definitive Edition 2023 · $1.3M 
Rustil: Eternal Labyrinth Castle 2026 · $541k 
PIT OF GOBLIN 2024 · EA · $164k 
Embers Adrift 2025 · $144k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy | $49.99 | 3,558 92% | 107k | $5.3M (exactly $5,335,933) | Asobo Studio | |
| | ENDLESS Dungeon™ - Definitive Edition | older | $14.99 | 2,953 64% | 89k | $1.3M (exactly $1,327,964) | AMPLITUDE Studios |
| | Rustil: Eternal Labyrinth Castle | $18.99 | 950 71% | 29k | $541k (exactly $541,215) | KTMG LLC. | |
| | PIT OF GOBLIN | · EA | $5.99 | 915 84% | 27k | $164k (exactly $164,426) | Friendly Foe |
| | Embers Adrift | $19.99 | 240 69% | 7.2k | $144k (exactly $143,928) | Stormhaven Studios | |
 | Slot & Dungeons | $8.99 | 304 83% | 9.1k | $82k (exactly $81,989) | MUC GAMES | |
 | MISTROGUE: Mist and the Living Dungeons | older | $12.99 | 184 65% | 5.5k | $72k (exactly $71,705) | Polyscape Inc. |
 | Santhai | older | $12.99 | 137 89% | 4.1k | $53k (exactly $53,389) | Hardworker Studio, Rachan Neamprasert |
 | The Fortress | $6.99 | 151 68% | 4.5k | $32k (exactly $31,665) | Baryonyx Games | |
 | CRYODEATH VR | older | $24.99 | 21 85% | 630 | $16k (exactly $15,744) | Kerag Elisaar |
 | Everfall 2: Idle Dungeon RPG | $9.99 | 42 76% | 1.3k | $13k (exactly $12,587) | GameDevJoey | |
 | DEATH BURGER | $6.99 | 60 98% | 1.8k | $13k (exactly $12,582) | lemorion_1224 | |
 | PENGUIN HOTEL 2 -Snake Penguin Ambition- | $9.99 | 40 100% | 1.2k | $12k (exactly $11,988) | lemorion_1224 | |
 | Holy Shot | $5.99 | 53 84% | 1.6k | $9.5k (exactly $9,524) | LoneWolf Digital Arts |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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