Do I ship it?

GamesPvEPvE + Sniper

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a PvE Sniper game?

PvE + Sniper

Only 11 developers shipped a PvE Sniper game in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Dagger Directive, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 25 more are announced, ×5.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $300, ×0.5 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $59. 25 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.0 per shipper, while revenue is up 260% on the market.

Deciding numbers: median 0.5 times the market baseline, revenue up 260% on the market, 25 announced, ×5.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
PvE + Sniper
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 11
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $719 → $300 → $600 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for PvE + Sniper: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 11
Bottom 30% $59 (exactly $59)
Median $300 (exactly $300)
Top 25% $5.5k (exactly $5,513)
Top 5% $481k (exactly $480,959)
Developers, 2 yr 11
Released games 47
Announced 25
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $9.99

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 260% on the market, supply 15% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 19%, 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
Sniper
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 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, Sniper
Price point
$9.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 9 games average 83% positive over 876 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $59, median $300, 1 in 4 over $5.5k, 1 in 20 over $480k.

3 in 10 developers made under $59. All of the 8 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 25 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.0 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
Zombie Army 4: Dead War older $49.99 10,028 86% 301k $15M (exactly $15,038,992) Rebellion
Tactical Assault VR · EA older $19.99 3,375 77% 101k $2.0M (exactly $2,023,987) HammerFire Interactive
Dagger Directive $19.99 802 83% 24k $481k (exactly $480,959) Arcane Alpacas LLC
Crossfire: Sierra Squad older $29.99 479 73% 14k $431k (exactly $430,956) Smilegate
AXYOS older $4.99 1,629 52% 49k $244k (exactly $243,861) Axyos Games
Project Hunt older $24.99 155 88% 4.7k $116k (exactly $116,204) Mind Mythic
GW: Legacy older $15.99 128 61% 3.8k $61k (exactly $61,402) Alto Interactive
Geometric Sniper older $2.99 282 84% 8.5k $25k (exactly $25,295) YAW Studios
KILLRUN older $4.99 153 67% 4.6k $23k (exactly $22,904) BULKHEAD
Alien Hallway 2 older $4.99 137 67% 4.1k $21k (exactly $20,509) Sigma Team Inc.
Red Tears: Angola · EA $14.99 39 84% 1.2k $18k (exactly $17,538) Arun Haines
Hook Line and Sniper $7.99 23 100% 690 $5.5k (exactly $5,513) ItellaItella, Justin1L8
WARRIORS · EA $17.99 6 0% 180 $3.2k (exactly $3,238) BAKROS DYNAMICS
Tribots · EA $19.99 1 100% 30 $600 (exactly $600) HEXRAY
BLOCKADE War Stories .VR $9.99 1 100% 30 $300 (exactly $300) Novalink
Archerry Storm $1.99 1 100% 30 $60 (exactly $60) OriGame Studios
Battle Marine Advance! $0.99 2 100% 60 $59 (exactly $59) SUZUKI PLAN, Yoji Suzuki
Sniper Reaction $0.99 1 100% 30 $30 (exactly $30) Saitama
Passer $14.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) SHEN YI

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