Do I ship it?

Games › PvE › PvE + Split Screen

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a PvE Split Screen game?

PvE + Split Screen

Of 53 developers who shipped a PvE Split Screen game 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.. 77 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $810, ×1.3 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $120; 1 in 20 cleared $160k, ×258 the market median. Revenue is down 40% on the market; 77 games are announced against 26 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.3 times the market baseline, revenue down 40% on the market, 77 announced, ×3.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
PvE + Split Screen
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 53
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $150 → $9.9k → $4.3k → $7.2k → $657 → $2.7k → $0 (still earning) → $300 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for PvE + Split Screen: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 53
Bottom 30% $120 (exactly $120)
Median $809 (exactly $809)
Top 25% $2.7k (exactly $2,698)
Top 5% $162k (exactly $161,935)
Developers, 2 yr 53
Released games 154
Announced 77
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $8.99

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 40% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.

Free games: 12%, 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
Split Screen
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 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, Split Screen; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry PvP, Local Multiplayer, Action
Price point
$8.99 typical · top 25% priced $39.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Colorful, 3D, Cartoony
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $39.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.

The top 10 games average 79% positive over 3,133 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $120, median $810, 1 in 4 over $2.6k, 1 in 20 over $160k.

3 in 10 developers made under $120. 9 in 10 of the 30 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 77 games are announced against 26 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 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

The Ascent 2021 · $17M HYPERCHARGE: Unboxed 2020 · $2.8M Screamer 2026 · $1.9M MotoGP™24 2024 · $1.2M MotoGP™25 2025 · $888k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
The Ascent older $29.99 19,235 74% 577k $17M (exactly $17,305,730) Neon Giant
HYPERCHARGE: Unboxed older $24.99 3,798 90% 114k $2.8M (exactly $2,847,361) Digital Cybercherries
Screamer $59.99 1,039 80% 31k $1.9M (exactly $1,869,888) Milestone S.r.l.
MotoGP™24 older $39.99 996 83% 30k $1.2M (exactly $1,194,901) Milestone S.r.l.
MotoGP™25 $49.99 592 74% 18k $888k (exactly $887,822) Milestone S.r.l.
Monster Jam™ Showdown older $49.99 213 71% 6.4k $319k (exactly $319,436) Milestone S.r.l.
First Dwarf · EA older $24.99 314 76% 9.4k $235k (exactly $235,406) Star Drifters
Pure Badminton $19.99 323 81% 9.7k $194k (exactly $193,703) DS SOFT
Garfield Kart 2 - All You Can Drift $24.99 216 45% 6.5k $162k (exactly $161,935) Eden Games
DunHero $8.99 530 89% 16k $143k (exactly $142,941) Dev Kacper
HOT WHEELS™ Infinite Rush $49.99 55 65% 1.7k $82k (exactly $82,484) Milestone S.r.l.
Taival · EA $19.99 134 83% 4.0k $80k (exactly $80,360) Bonobo Software
Pocket Cars $9.99 114 87% 3.4k $34k (exactly $34,166) Gen90Software
Race Jam $19.99 36 97% 1.1k $22k (exactly $21,589) DiffGames LLC
Bonelords $6.99 94 92% 2.8k $20k (exactly $19,712) Z0 Game Studios

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