Do I ship it?

Games › PvE › PvE + Shoot 'Em Up

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a PvE Shoot 'Em Up?

PvE + Shoot 'Em Up

Of 306 developers who shipped a PvE Shoot 'Em Up 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.. 394 more are announced, ×2.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $300 in the last 2 years and $360 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 6 / 10 build. 169 developers shipped in the last year and 394 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.5 times the market baseline, revenue up 60% on the market, 394 announced, ×2.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
PvE + Shoot 'Em Up
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 306
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $240 → $538 → $598 → $450 → $300 → $299 → $359 (still earning) → $150 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for PvE + Shoot 'Em Up: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 306
Bottom 30% $90 (exactly $90)
Median $299 (exactly $299)
Top 25% $1.9k (exactly $1,868)
Top 5% $31k (exactly $31,169)
Developers, 2 yr 306
Released games 823
Announced 394
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 20% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 15%, 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
Shoot 'Em Up
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, Shoot 'Em Up; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Shooter, Bullet Hell
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Colorful, Top-Down
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 74% positive over 7,191 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $90, median $300, 1 in 4 over $1.8k, 1 in 20 over $31k.

3 in 10 developers made under $90. 9 in 10 of the 161 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 394 games are announced against 169 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.3 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

PAYDAY 3 2023 · $44M Crysis 2 Remastered 2022 · $8.1M Crysis 3 Remastered 2022 · $7.0M Contra: Operation Galuga 2024 · $972k Alien Hominid Invasion 2023 · $943k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
PAYDAY 3 older $29.99 49,305 45% 1.5M $44M (exactly $44,359,708) Starbreeze Studios
Crysis 2 Remastered older $29.99 9,034 89% 271k $8.1M (exactly $8,127,890) Crytek, Saber Interactive
Crysis 3 Remastered older $29.99 7,731 88% 232k $7.0M (exactly $6,955,581) Crytek, Saber Interactive
Contra: Operation Galuga older $39.99 810 87% 24k $972k (exactly $971,757) WayForward
Alien Hominid Invasion older $19.99 1,572 88% 47k $943k (exactly $942,728) The Behemoth
Beyond Sandbox · EA $19.99 1,223 39% 37k $733k (exactly $733,433) Atlas XR
Badlands Crew - Drive, Command, Conquer $18.99 1,126 78% 34k $641k (exactly $641,482) Runner Duck
ODDCORE · EA $12.99 1,080 96% 32k $421k (exactly $420,876) ODDCORP
Alien Shooter 2: Reloaded older $4.99 2,517 92% 76k $377k (exactly $376,795) Sigma Team Inc.
SNKRX older $2.99 4,198 94% 126k $377k (exactly $376,561) a327ex
Slime 3K: Rise Against Despot $4.99 1,584 79% 48k $237k (exactly $237,125) Konfa Games
Ultimate Zombie Defense 2 $9.99 589 76% 18k $177k (exactly $176,523) Terror Dog Studio
WAR RATS: The Rat em Up $11.99 382 95% 11k $137k (exactly $137,405) wootusart Industries
Warden's Will $14.99 304 70% 9.1k $137k (exactly $136,709) ELYZIO
The Horde Wants You Dead $9.99 270 64% 8.1k $81k (exactly $80,919) Bellyflop Games
Star Survivor $4.99 540 67% 16k $81k (exactly $80,838) SpaceOwl Games, Erabit
Truxton Extreme $24.99 93 95% 2.8k $70k (exactly $69,722) Tatsujin

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