Should I ship a Superhero PvE game?
PvE + Superhero
Only 13 developers shipped a Superhero 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, Kijutsu Rider, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 27 more are announced, ×2.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: dead, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $360 in the last 2 years and $420 over 4, against a market of $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build. 12 developers shipped in the last year and 27 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $0 (exactly $0) |
|---|---|
| Median | $359 (exactly $359) |
| Top 25% | $898 (exactly $898) |
| Top 5% | $28k (exactly $28,472) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 13 |
| Released games | 43 |
| Announced | 27 |
| Effort | 7 / 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 too few recent games to read momentum, supply 1100% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 37%, 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
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- PvE; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Combat, Action-Adventure
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, 3D, Colorful
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 9 games average 68% positive over 136 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $50. 8 in 10 of the 5 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 27 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.3 per shipper.
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
- + SpaceshipsPoor odds
- + MarsPoor odds
Comparable games
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League 2024 · $27M 
Project Demigod 2024 · $238k 
Kijutsu Rider 2026 · $28k 
Chenso Club 2022 · $25k 
Idle Superpowers 2022 · $13k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League | older | $69.99 | 12,718 60% | 382k | $27M (exactly $26,703,985) | Rocksteady Studios |
| | Project Demigod | older | $19.99 | 397 69% | 12k | $238k (exactly $238,081) | Omnifarious Studios LLC |
| | Kijutsu Rider | $9.99 | 95 56% | 2.9k | $28k (exactly $28,472) | OmegaMechAnimations | |
| | Chenso Club | older | $9.99 | 83 74% | 2.5k | $25k (exactly $24,875) | Pixadome |
| | Idle Superpowers | older | $6.99 | 61 77% | 1.8k | $13k (exactly $12,792) | Lutsgames |
 | Second Rate Superheroes | older | $4.99 | 33 75% | 990 | $4.9k (exactly $4,940) | Fun Asylum Studio |
 | BoltBreak | older | $5.99 | 18 66% | 540 | $3.2k (exactly $3,235) | KomodoBit Games |
 | Ultimate Wall Defense Force | older | $14.99 | 7 85% | 210 | $3.1k (exactly $3,148) | Tomas Gomez |
 | SnackTimeActionGame | $7.99 | 10 100% | 300 | $2.4k (exactly $2,397) | Snack Box Games | |
 | WorldWatch: Superhero Bullet Heaven | · EA | $3.59 | 10 100% | 300 | $1.1k (exactly $1,077) | Moldy&Abet Games, Paper Dudes Game… (Moldy&Abet Games, Paper Dudes Game Studio) |
 | Super Nova | $5.99 | 5 60% | 150 | $898 (exactly $898) | DIG Games | |
 | Witchy Tower | $2.99 | 10 100% | 300 | $897 (exactly $897) | Changefairy | |
 | FULL BET - FIGHTING CASINO - | $19.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $600 (exactly $600) | FlatMountain | |
 | Dual Force | $3.99 | 3 100% | 90 | $359 (exactly $359) | Howling Beast Entertainment | |
 | Hero Mania | $9.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $300 (exactly $300) | Cosmic Tonic LLC | |
 | Ghost of Kyiv | $2.04 | 1 100% | 30 | $61 (exactly $61) | Jonald | |
 | City: Battle Ground | $5.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | Redduckstudio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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