Do I ship it?

Games › PvE › PvE + Psychological

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Psychological PvE game?

PvE + Psychological

Of 64 developers who shipped a Psychological PvE 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.. 100 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 $600, level with the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $49k, ×79 the market median. Revenue is down 55% on the market; 100 games are announced against 38 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.0 times the market baseline, revenue down 55% on the market, 100 announced, ×2.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
PvE + Psychological
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 64
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $836 → $2.4k → $1.2k → $1.5k → $419 → $150 (still earning) → $270 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for PvE + Psychological: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 64
Bottom 30% $179 (exactly $179)
Median $600 (exactly $600)
Top 25% $1.5k (exactly $1,497)
Top 5% $50k (exactly $49,873)
Developers, 2 yr 64
Released games 112
Announced 100
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 down 55% on the market, supply 45% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 7%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

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
Psychological
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
PvE; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Survival, Exploration
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, 3D, Dark
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 56% positive over 7,555 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $180, median $600, 1 in 4 over $1.4k, 1 in 20 over $49k.

3 in 10 developers made under $180. 8 in 10 of the 29 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 100 games are announced against 38 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

PvE with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Dating SimFair17 devs · median $2.4k · 23 announced
  2. + IdlerFair161 devs · median $1.0k · 229 announced
  3. + MinigamesFair9 devs · median $899 · 14 announced
  4. + TypingFair23 devs · median $719 · 27 announced
  5. + Extraction ShooterPoor odds44 devs · median $163k · 97 announced
  6. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds50 devs · median $85k · 120 announced
  7. + HeistPoor odds18 devs · median $30k · 50 announced
  8. + MMORPGPoor odds34 devs · median $25k · 248 announced
  9. + Real-TimePoor odds10 devs · median $20k · 24 announced
  10. + NavalPoor odds21 devs · median $11k · 59 announced
  11. + SpaceshipsPoor odds16 devs · median $6.3k · 20 announced
  12. + MarsPoor odds10 devs · median $6.3k · 13 announced

All 243 pairs on the PvE page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Call of Duty®: Black Ops 7 2025 · $9.1M The Thing: Remastered 2024 · $1.1M Fear Therapy 2021 · EA · $543k Anomaly Exit 2024 · $201k SIDE EFFECTS 2025 · $128k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Call of Duty®: Black Ops 7 $69.99 4,344 37% 130k $9.1M (exactly $9,121,097) Treyarch, Raven Software, Beenox, High… (Treyarch, Raven Software, Beenox, High Moon Studios, Sledgehammer Games, Infinity Ward, Activision Shanghai, Demonware)
The Thing: Remastered $29.99 1,203 89% 36k $1.1M (exactly $1,082,339) Nightdive Studios, Computer Artworks
Fear Therapy · EA older $4.99 3,630 68% 109k $543k (exactly $543,411) Black Flag Studios
Anomaly Exit older $5.99 1,118 89% 34k $201k (exactly $200,905) ExamlGuy
SIDE EFFECTS $4.99 858 83% 26k $128k (exactly $128,443) hirohun, Mr.Pootsley, Jaybooty, Lofar42
Splatter older $14.99 149 95% 4.5k $67k (exactly $67,005) Rat King Collective, Catbird Soft
Make Good Choices $2.99 556 88% 17k $50k (exactly $49,873) TN Games
Among The Whispers - Provocation $14.99 101 79% 3.0k $45k (exactly $45,420) D&A Studios
Together After Dark $2.99 405 53% 12k $36k (exactly $36,328) RedForge
You Must older $1.99 492 75% 15k $29k (exactly $29,372) Thin Line
Escape From Infection Zone $39.99 6 100% 180 $7.2k (exactly $7,198) Funbang
Hannah $19.99 8 87% 240 $4.8k (exactly $4,798) Spaceboy
Lastbane · EA $3.99 39 25% 1.2k $4.7k (exactly $4,668) Lionstone Studio
Heat or Die $2.99 35 80% 1.1k $3.1k (exactly $3,140) Mounpeak Games

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.