Should I ship a PvE Runner?
PvE + Runner
Of 61 developers who shipped a PvE Runner 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.. 68 more are announced, ×2.1 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. 32 developers shipped in the last year and 68 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $60 (exactly $60) |
|---|---|
| Median | $179 (exactly $179) |
| Top 25% | $599 (exactly $599) |
| Top 5% | $17k (exactly $16,766) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 61 |
| Released games | 177 |
| Announced | 68 |
| 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 170% on the market, supply 10% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 21%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- PvE, Runner; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Platformer, 3D Platformer
- Price point
- $3.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Cute, Retro
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $3.99.
The top 10 games average 90% positive over 2,086 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $60. 9 in 10 of the 33 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 68 games are announced against 32 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 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
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | ODDCORE | · EA | $12.99 | 1,080 96% | 32k | $421k (exactly $420,876) | ODDCORP |
| | WASD : The Adventure of Tori | $3.99 | 730 83% | 22k | $87k (exactly $87,381) | EVNA Games | |
| | Decimate Drive | older | $7.99 | 321 91% | 9.6k | $77k (exactly $76,944) | Some Random Designing |
| | Care Bears: To The Rescue | $14.99 | 54 98% | 1.6k | $24k (exactly $24,284) | Polygoat | |
| | KILLRUN | older | $4.99 | 153 67% | 4.6k | $23k (exactly $22,904) | BULKHEAD |
| | Puppet Team | $4.99 | 112 64% | 3.4k | $17k (exactly $16,766) | Editmode | |
| | Run Pizza Run | older | $4.99 | 83 86% | 2.5k | $12k (exactly $12,425) | IZI Games |
| | Ostrich Runner | older | $6.99 | 47 89% | 1.4k | $9.9k (exactly $9,856) | Geleos |
| | Incaved Runner | older | $3.99 | 78 96% | 2.3k | $9.3k (exactly $9,337) | DualWielded |
| | JUNGLE RUNNER | older | $24.99 | 12 75% | 360 | $9.0k (exactly $8,996) | Piece Of Voxel |
| | Derby Heroines: Run, Bet, Win! | $14.99 | 17 94% | 510 | $7.6k (exactly $7,645) | SHINISE GAMES, MFC STUDIO | |
| | 2 Bows 1 Arrow | $6.99 | 28 100% | 840 | $5.9k (exactly $5,872) | SKL Games | |
| | Inflafrog: Collector's Edition | $4.99 | 28 100% | 840 | $4.2k (exactly $4,192) | Nice Cream | |
| | Super Miners | · EA | $9.99 | 13 92% | 390 | $3.9k (exactly $3,896) | METAGAR |
| | NINJA KAMUI: SHINOBI ORIGINS | $19.99 | 6 100% | 180 | $3.6k (exactly $3,598) | G.rev Ltd. | |
| | Swamp Up | $4.99 | 18 100% | 540 | $2.7k (exactly $2,695) | Torress Studios |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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