Do I ship it?

Games › PvE › PvE + Robots

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Robot PvE game?

PvE + Robots

Of 146 developers who shipped a Robot 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.. 308 more are announced, ×3.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $480, ×0.8 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $440k, ×706 the market median. Revenue is up 140% on the market; 308 games are announced against 83 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 0.8 times the market baseline, revenue up 140% on the market, 308 announced, ×3.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
PvE + Robots
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 146
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.2k → $597 → $3.1k → $1.6k → $958 → $300 → $629 (still earning) → $1.8k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for PvE + Robots: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 146
Bottom 30% $179 (exactly $179)
Median $479 (exactly $479)
Top 25% $6.6k (exactly $6,597)
Top 5% $443k (exactly $443,178)
Developers, 2 yr 146
Released games 432
Announced 308
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 up 140% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 22%, 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
Robots
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 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; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Shooter, Combat
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 94% positive over 71,961 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 $480, 1 in 4 over $6.5k, 1 in 20 over $440k.

3 in 10 developers made under $180. 8 in 10 of the 76 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 308 games are announced against 83 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.7 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

The Callisto Protocol™ 2022 · $63M PRAGMATA 2026 · $59M Generation Zero® 2019 · $22M Far Far West 2026 · EA · $19M EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 6 2024 · $11M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
The Callisto Protocol™ older $59.99 35,135 66% 1.1M $63M (exactly $63,232,460) Striking Distance Studios
PRAGMATA $59.99 32,885 96% 987k $59M (exactly $59,183,134) CAPCOM Co., Ltd.
Generation Zero® older $24.99 29,115 75% 873k $22M (exactly $21,827,516) Systemic Reaction™
Far Far West · EA $19.99 31,458 95% 944k $19M (exactly $18,865,363) Evil Raptor
EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 6 older $59.99 6,225 69% 187k $11M (exactly $11,203,132) SANDLOT
SD GUNDAM BATTLE ALLIANCE older $59.99 4,892 62% 147k $8.8M (exactly $8,804,132) ARTDINK
Exoprimal older $59.99 2,581 76% 77k $4.6M (exactly $4,645,026) CAPCOM Co., Ltd.
PULSAR: Lost Colony older $19.99 4,409 89% 132k $2.6M (exactly $2,644,077) Leafy Games
MEGA MAN X DiVE Offline older $29.99 1,760 80% 53k $1.6M (exactly $1,583,472) CAPCOM Co., Ltd.
ZeroSpace · EA $39.99 1,161 78% 35k $1.4M (exactly $1,392,852) Starlance Studios, Ironward
The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak II $59.99 669 83% 20k $1.2M (exactly $1,203,999) Nihon Falcom, PH3 GmbH
METAL EDEN $19.99 1,920 84% 58k $1.2M (exactly $1,151,424) Reikon Games
Arken Age $39.99 669 90% 20k $803k (exactly $802,599) VitruviusVR
Clone Drone in the Hyperdome $19.99 1,048 91% 31k $628k (exactly $628,486) Doborog Games
Cargo Hunters · EA $19.99 739 82% 22k $443k (exactly $443,178) Order Of Meta
Astronomics · EA $19.99 706 89% 21k $423k (exactly $423,388) Numizmatic
Axon TD: Uprising - Tower Defense $19.99 706 85% 21k $423k (exactly $423,388) Element Studios

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