Do I ship it?

Games › PvE › PvE + Quick-Time Events

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a PvE Quick-Time Events game?

PvE + Quick-Time Events

Of 45 developers who shipped a PvE Quick-Time Events 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.. 65 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $180 in the last 2 years and $180 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 6 / 10 build. 24 developers shipped in the last year and 65 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.3 times the market baseline, revenue up 20% on the market, 65 announced, ×2.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
PvE + Quick-Time Events
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 45
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $119 → $449 → $359 → $179 → $330 → $239 → $150 (still earning) → $1.6k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for PvE + Quick-Time Events: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 45
Bottom 30% $105 (exactly $105)
Median $179 (exactly $179)
Top 25% $898 (exactly $898)
Top 5% $5.9k (exactly $5,872)
Developers, 2 yr 45
Released games 106
Announced 65
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $3.99

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 20% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 21%, 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
Quick-Time Events
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium 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, Quick-Time Events; 3 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Arcade
Price point
$3.99 typical · top 25% priced $8.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Cute, Colorful
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $8.99 or above; the middle game at $3.99.

The top 10 games average 93% positive over 64,347 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $110, median $180, 1 in 4 over $890, 1 in 20 over $5.8k.

3 in 10 developers made under $110. 9 in 10 of the 26 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 65 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

PvE with a different second tag, 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

Stellar Blade™ 2025 · $110M Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles 2 2025 · $5.2M Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- Sweep the Board! 2024 · $203k Meet Your Oshi 2024 · $12k Schlag den Star - Das 3. Spiel 2023 · $9.9k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Stellar Blade™ $59.99 61,289 93% 1.8M $110M (exactly $110,301,813) SHIFT UP Corporation
Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles 2 $59.99 2,879 83% 86k $5.2M (exactly $5,181,336) CyberConnect2
Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- Sweep the Board! older $59.99 113 85% 3.4k $203k (exactly $203,366) CyberConnect2
Meet Your Oshi older $3.99 97 89% 2.9k $12k (exactly $11,611) VchiBan
Schlag den Star - Das 3. Spiel older $29.99 11 9% 330 $9.9k (exactly $9,897) Twigames Inc.
2 Bows 1 Arrow $6.99 28 100% 840 $5.9k (exactly $5,872) SKL Games
Fish 'n Ships $4.99 36 97% 1.1k $5.4k (exactly $5,389) Squid Snooze Studio
Flying Corps older $24.99 7 28% 210 $5.2k (exactly $5,248) Rowan Software
Balls Royale older $1.99 86 74% 2.6k $5.1k (exactly $5,134) Meaty Ore Games
SMYS : Show Me Your Stairs older $11.99 14 100% 420 $5.0k (exactly $5,036) StarvingFox Studio
Inflafrog: Collector's Edition $4.99 28 100% 840 $4.2k (exactly $4,192) Nice Cream
Shuwa Shuwa Guin! $3.99 16 100% 480 $1.9k (exactly $1,915) Watto Productions
Smoke Town $6.99 9 100% 270 $1.9k (exactly $1,887) TSRV
Slimelon $3.99 13 100% 390 $1.6k (exactly $1,556) LeSaucier
KatanaHime $0.99 45 95% 1.4k $1.3k (exactly $1,336) Heuristic Forge
Surfing Legends $8.99 4 100% 120 $1.1k (exactly $1,079) TALOF Games

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