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Should I ship a Spaceship PvE game?
PvE + Spaceships
Only 16 developers shipped a Spaceship PvE 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, Jump Space, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 20 more are announced.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $6.3k, ×10 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $270; 1 in 20 cleared $6.4M, ×10241 the market median. Revenue is down 45% on the market; 20 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $270 (exactly $270) |
|---|---|
| Median | $6.3k (exactly $6,296) |
| Top 25% | $157k (exactly $156,687) |
| Top 5% | $6.4M (exactly $6,431,183) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 16 |
| Released games | 37 |
| Announced | 20 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $14.99 |
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 down 45% on the market, supply 200% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 5%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Spaceships
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- PvE; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Space Sim, Adventure
- Price point
- $14.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
- Art
- 8 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $14.99.
The top 10 games average 81% positive over 17,964 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $270. 20 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
PvE with a different setting or mood, 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
- + MarsPoor odds
- + DinosaursPoor odds
Comparable games
Avorion 2020 · $9.7M 
Jump Space 2025 · EA · $6.4M 
Wildgate 2025 · $4.5M 
PULSAR: Lost Colony 2021 · $2.6M 
Starminer 2026 · EA · $1.6M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Avorion | older | $24.99 | 13,001 90% | 390k | $9.7M (exactly $9,746,850) | Boxelware |
| | Jump Space | · EA | $19.99 | 10,724 85% | 322k | $6.4M (exactly $6,431,183) | Keepsake Games |
| | Wildgate | $29.99 | 5,032 77% | 151k | $4.5M (exactly $4,527,290) | Moonshot Games | |
| | PULSAR: Lost Colony | older | $19.99 | 4,409 89% | 132k | $2.6M (exactly $2,644,077) | Leafy Games |
| | Starminer | · EA | $29.99 | 1,818 72% | 55k | $1.6M (exactly $1,635,655) | CoolAndGoodGames |
 | Infinity: Battlescape | · EA older | $34.99 | 640 79% | 19k | $672k (exactly $671,808) | I-Novae Studios, LLC |
 | Final Theory | older | $14.99 | 386 79% | 12k | $174k (exactly $173,584) | Monticube |
 | BattleGroupVR2 | · EA | $24.99 | 209 85% | 6.3k | $157k (exactly $156,687) | SpaceOwl Games |
 | Dimensions: Dreadnought Architect | · EA older | $15.99 | 184 55% | 5.5k | $88k (exactly $88,265) | Craft Theory |
 | HELL GALAXY | $24.99 | 89 74% | 2.7k | $67k (exactly $66,723) | Italian Games Factory | |
 | Stardust Exile | $14.99 | 44 70% | 1.3k | $20k (exactly $19,787) | Apseren | |
 | Fleetbreakers | · EA | $14.99 | 25 96% | 750 | $11k (exactly $11,242) | Last Keep |
 | Leaks In Space | · EA | $14.99 | 14 71% | 420 | $6.3k (exactly $6,296) | Frostech Game Studio |
 | Timeloop Titans | $9.99 | 5 100% | 150 | $1.5k (exactly $1,498) | LapaGames | |
 | Drawn to Drift | $9.99 | 4 100% | 120 | $1.2k (exactly $1,199) | FrogForgeGames |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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