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Should I ship a PvE Time Management game?
PvE + Time Management
Of 99 developers who shipped a PvE Time Management 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.. 212 more are announced, ×3.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $900, ×1.4 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $210; 1 in 20 cleared $120k, ×195 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 212 games are announced against 55 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $210 (exactly $210) |
|---|---|
| Median | $898 (exactly $898) |
| Top 25% | $5.0k (exactly $5,034) |
| Top 5% | $122k (exactly $122,247) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 99 |
| Released games | 236 |
| Announced | 212 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 flat on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 19%, 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
- Time Management
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- PvE, Time Management; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Simulation, Online Co-Op
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 86% positive over 7,256 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $210. 8 in 10 of the 63 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 212 games are announced against 55 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.9 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
Lethal Company 2023 · EA · $123M 
F1® Manager 2024 2024 · $5.8M 
Turmoil 2016 · $5.1M 
Pacify 2019 · $4.9M 
Murky Divers 2024 · $1.1M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Lethal Company | · EA older | $9.99 | 411,550 97% | 12M | $123M (exactly $123,341,535) | Zeekerss |
| | F1® Manager 2024 | older | $34.99 | 5,554 83% | 167k | $5.8M (exactly $5,830,034) | Frontier Developments |
| | Turmoil | older | $12.99 | 13,154 92% | 395k | $5.1M (exactly $5,126,114) | Gamious |
| | Pacify | older | $4.99 | 32,921 86% | 988k | $4.9M (exactly $4,928,274) | Shawn Hitchcock |
| | Murky Divers | $8.99 | 3,981 87% | 119k | $1.1M (exactly $1,073,676) | Embers | |
 | WE ARE FOOTBALL 2024 | older | $39.99 | 751 79% | 23k | $901k (exactly $900,975) | Winning Streak Games GmbH |
 | Astronomics | · EA | $19.99 | 706 89% | 21k | $423k (exactly $423,388) | Numizmatic |
 | GT Manager | $24.99 | 236 71% | 7.1k | $177k (exactly $176,929) | THE TINY DIGITAL FACTORY, IMV STUDIO | |
 | Yolk Heroes: A Long Tamago | older | $7.99 | 725 89% | 22k | $174k (exactly $173,782) | 14 Hours Productions |
 | Backrooms Cleanup Crew | · EA | $9.99 | 453 91% | 14k | $136k (exactly $135,764) | On The Bridge Games |
 | Net.Attack() - Code or Die! | $7.99 | 510 80% | 15k | $122k (exactly $122,247) | ByteRockers' Games | |
 | Rocky Idle | $9.99 | 308 83% | 9.2k | $92k (exactly $92,308) | Rocky Games Studio | |
 | All Aboard! The Train Defense Express | $4.99 | 379 84% | 11k | $57k (exactly $56,736) | Likadev | |
 | Private Military Manager: Tactical Auto Battler | · EA | $5.99 | 291 69% | 8.7k | $52k (exactly $52,293) | 5minlab Corp. |
 | Hired 2 Die | $9.99 | 169 82% | 5.1k | $51k (exactly $50,649) | Electric Monkeys | |
 | SkyInFlames | · EA | $6.99 | 223 95% | 6.7k | $47k (exactly $46,763) | VasyliyBritva |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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