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Should I ship a PvE Top-Down Shooter?
PvE + Top-Down Shooter
Of 355 developers who shipped a PvE Top-Down Shooter 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.. 581 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $300 in the last 2 years and $300 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 6 / 10 build. 206 developers shipped in the last year and 581 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $89 (exactly $89) |
|---|---|
| Median | $299 (exactly $299) |
| Top 25% | $2.3k (exactly $2,307) |
| Top 5% | $74k (exactly $73,814) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 355 |
| Released games | 850 |
| Announced | 581 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $4.99 |
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 80% on the market, supply 35% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 18%, 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
- Top-Down Shooter
- 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, Top-Down Shooter; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Bullet Hell, Shooter
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Top-Down, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 86% positive over 62,039 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $89. 9 in 10 of the 183 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 581 games are announced against 206 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 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
Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront 2021 · $34M 
Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor 2025 · $18M 
The Ascent 2021 · $17M 
RUNNING WITH RIFLES 2015 · $6.6M 
SYNTHETIK 2 2021 · EA · $1.9M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront | older | $34.99 | 32,183 85% | 965k | $34M (exactly $33,782,495) | Barbedwire Studios, Digitalmindsoft |
| | Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor | $12.99 | 46,354 86% | 1.4M | $18M (exactly $18,064,154) | Funday Games | |
| | The Ascent | older | $29.99 | 19,235 74% | 577k | $17M (exactly $17,305,730) | Neon Giant |
| | RUNNING WITH RIFLES | older | $14.99 | 14,676 87% | 440k | $6.6M (exactly $6,599,797) | Osumia Games |
| | SYNTHETIK 2 | · EA older | $19.99 | 3,202 81% | 96k | $1.9M (exactly $1,920,239) | Flow Fire Games |
 | Gatekeeper | $14.99 | 2,706 82% | 81k | $1.2M (exactly $1,216,888) | Gravity Lagoon | |
 | Glyphica: Typing Survival | · EA | $9.99 | 2,488 90% | 75k | $746k (exactly $745,654) | aliasBLACK |
 | Zombieville USA 3D | $9.99 | 2,184 92% | 66k | $655k (exactly $654,545) | Mika Mobile, Inc. | |
 | TerraTech Legion | $9.99 | 2,109 81% | 63k | $632k (exactly $632,067) | Payload Studios | |
 | Whisper Mountain Outbreak | · EA | $7.99 | 2,421 84% | 73k | $580k (exactly $580,314) | Toge Productions |
 | Section 13 | $19.99 | 770 70% | 23k | $462k (exactly $461,769) | Ocean Drive Studio, Inc. | |
 | Vital Shell | $5.99 | 1,752 96% | 53k | $315k (exactly $314,834) | MarvinWizard | |
 | RIFTSTORM | · EA | $14.99 | 659 70% | 20k | $296k (exactly $296,352) | Confiction Labs, Agate |
 | Jackal | $14.99 | 596 88% | 18k | $268k (exactly $268,021) | Transhuman Design |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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