Do I ship it?

Games › PvE › PvE + Psychological Horror

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Psychological-Horror PvE game?

PvE + Psychological Horror

Of 228 developers who shipped a Psychological-Horror 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.. 432 more are announced, ×3.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.4k, ×2.3 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $700k, ×1118 the market median. Revenue is up 60% on the market; 432 games are announced against 125 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.3 times the market baseline, revenue up 60% on the market, 432 announced, ×3.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
PvE + Psychological Horror
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 228
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $987 → $1.9k → $2.8k → $1.6k → $2.4k → $2.2k → $1.4k (still earning) → $270 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for PvE + Psychological Horror: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 228
Bottom 30% $300 (exactly $300)
Median $1.4k (exactly $1,438)
Top 25% $13k (exactly $12,600)
Top 5% $702k (exactly $701,842)
Developers, 2 yr 228
Released games 526
Announced 432
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 60% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 12%, 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 Horror
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; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Survival Horror, Online Co-Op
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $10.00 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, Atmospheric, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $10.00 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 78% positive over 221,558 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $300, median $1.4k, 1 in 4 over $12k, 1 in 20 over $700k.

3 in 10 developers made under $300. 8 in 10 of the 123 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 432 games are announced against 125 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.5 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

HELLDIVERS™ 2 2024 · $1.0B Lethal Company 2023 · EA · $123M The Outlast Trials 2024 · $109M Escape from Tarkov 2025 · $84M Marathon 2026 · $54M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
HELLDIVERS™ 2 older $39.99 838,901 76% 25M $1.0B (exactly $1,006,429,530) Arrowhead Game Studios
Lethal Company · EA older $9.99 411,550 97% 12M $123M (exactly $123,341,535) Zeekerss
The Outlast Trials older $39.99 90,997 92% 2.7M $109M (exactly $109,169,101) Red Barrels
Escape from Tarkov $49.99 55,824 49% 1.7M $84M (exactly $83,719,253) Battlestate Games
Marathon $39.99 44,919 81% 1.3M $54M (exactly $53,889,324) Bungie
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League older $69.99 12,718 60% 382k $27M (exactly $26,703,985) Rocksteady Studios
How to Fish $7.99 57,661 95% 1.7M $14M (exactly $13,821,342) Dazed Games
BIGFOOT · EA older $19.99 17,818 83% 535k $11M (exactly $10,685,455) CyberLight Game Studio
Into the Radius VR older $29.99 9,709 93% 291k $8.7M (exactly $8,735,187) CM IMMERSIVE
Inside the Backrooms · EA older $6.99 38,819 80% 1.2M $8.1M (exactly $8,140,344) MrFatcat
Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days · EA $24.99 9,049 89% 271k $6.8M (exactly $6,784,035) PikPok
Nuclear Nightmare · EA $6.99 15,403 81% 462k $3.2M (exactly $3,230,009) BG Productions
Species: Unknown · EA $9.99 9,437 94% 283k $2.8M (exactly $2,828,269) WanadevStudio
MIMESIS · EA $9.99 8,396 84% 252k $2.5M (exactly $2,516,281) ReLU Games, Inc.
Zort · EA $4.00 11,738 90% 352k $1.4M (exactly $1,408,560) Londer Software
Nunholy $7.99 5,150 88% 155k $1.2M (exactly $1,234,455) Chowbie
Murky Divers $8.99 3,981 87% 119k $1.1M (exactly $1,073,676) Embers

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