Do I ship it?

GamesPvEPvE + Runner

Specimen · observed

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.

Deciding numbers: median 0.3 times the market baseline, revenue up 170% on the market, 68 announced, ×2.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
PvE + Runner
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 61
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $449 → $449 → $179 → $90 → $179 → $269 (still earning) → $539 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for PvE + Runner: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 61
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.

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
Runner
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, 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
Plate 4 · demand

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.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $60, median $180, 1 in 4 over $590, 1 in 20 over $16k.

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.

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

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.