Should I ship a PvE Stealth game?
PvE + Stealth
Of 133 developers who shipped a PvE Stealth 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.. 327 more are announced, ×4.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.7k, ×2.6 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $800k, ×1278 the market median. Revenue is up 195% on the market; 327 games are announced against 80 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $300 (exactly $300) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.7k (exactly $1,650) |
| Top 25% | $15k (exactly $15,419) |
| Top 5% | $803k (exactly $802,599) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 133 |
| Released games | 361 |
| Announced | 327 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $5.99 |
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 195% on the market, supply 45% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 16%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- PvE, Stealth; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Survival Horror, Co-op
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $13.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, Atmospheric, Dark
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $13.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 41,500 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 9 in 10 of the 75 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 327 games are announced against 80 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
PvE with a different second tag, 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
- + SpaceshipsPoor odds
- + MarsPoor odds
Comparable games
Dying Light 2015 · $280M 
PAYDAY 2 2013 · $134M 
The Outlast Trials 2024 · $109M 
GTFO 2021 · $55M 
PAYDAY 3 2023 · $44M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Dying Light | older | $24.99 | 373,413 95% | 11M | $280M (exactly $279,947,726) | Techland |
| | PAYDAY 2 | older | $9.99 | 445,531 89% | 13M | $134M (exactly $133,525,641) | OVERKILL - a Starbreeze Studio., Sidetr… (OVERKILL - a Starbreeze Studio., Sidetrack Games) |
| | The Outlast Trials | older | $39.99 | 90,997 92% | 2.7M | $109M (exactly $109,169,101) | Red Barrels |
| | GTFO | older | $39.99 | 46,184 86% | 1.4M | $55M (exactly $55,406,945) | 10 Chambers |
| | PAYDAY 3 | older | $29.99 | 49,305 45% | 1.5M | $44M (exactly $44,359,708) | Starbreeze Studios |
 | Six Days in Fallujah | · EA older | $39.99 | 13,012 79% | 390k | $16M (exactly $15,610,496) | Highwire Games |
 | Into the Radius VR | older | $29.99 | 9,709 93% | 291k | $8.7M (exactly $8,735,187) | CM IMMERSIVE |
 | Zero Hour | older | $9.99 | 28,570 78% | 857k | $8.6M (exactly $8,562,429) | AttritoM7 Productions |
 | 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 |
 | Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days | · EA | $24.99 | 9,049 89% | 271k | $6.8M (exactly $6,784,035) | PikPok |
 | Species: Unknown | · EA | $9.99 | 9,437 94% | 283k | $2.8M (exactly $2,828,269) | WanadevStudio |
 | Cyber Knights: Flashpoint | $29.99 | 2,926 93% | 88k | $2.6M (exactly $2,632,522) | Trese Brothers | |
 | YAPYAP | $9.99 | 8,385 83% | 252k | $2.5M (exactly $2,512,984) | Maison Bap | |
 | Burglin' Gnomes | $9.99 | 4,635 83% | 139k | $1.4M (exactly $1,389,110) | Fobri | |
 | Dark Hours | $9.99 | 3,481 81% | 104k | $1.0M (exactly $1,043,256) | Piece of Cake studios | |
 | Arken Age | $39.99 | 669 90% | 20k | $803k (exactly $802,599) | VitruviusVR | |
 | GERONIMO | · EA | $19.99 | 1,267 81% | 38k | $760k (exactly $759,820) | Dark Matter Studios |
 | Transience | $19.99 | 774 69% | 23k | $464k (exactly $464,168) | RESURGENT | |
 | Deathground | · EA | $14.99 | 877 61% | 26k | $394k (exactly $394,387) | Jaw Drop Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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