Do I ship it?

Games › PvE › PvE + Tower Defense

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a PvE Tower Defense?

PvE + Tower Defense

Of 308 developers who shipped a PvE Tower Defense 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.. 580 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $450 in the last 2 years and $480 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 6 / 10 build. 191 developers shipped in the last year and 580 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.7 times the market baseline, revenue up 10% on the market, 580 announced, ×3.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
PvE + Tower Defense
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 308
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $599 → $838 → $599 → $898 → $599 → $360 → $479 (still earning) → $240 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for PvE + Tower Defense: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 308
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $450 (exactly $450)
Top 25% $2.4k (exactly $2,427)
Top 5% $158k (exactly $158,321)
Developers, 2 yr 308
Released games 681
Announced 580
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 10% on the market, supply 60% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 14%, 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
Tower Defense
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high 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, Tower Defense; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Action, Roguelite
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Top-Down, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 78% positive over 36,353 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $150, median $450, 1 in 4 over $2.4k, 1 in 20 over $150k.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 139 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 580 games are announced against 191 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

Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville™ 2020 · $14M Orcs Must Die! 3 2021 · $9.8M Diplomacy is Not an Option 2024 · $9.8M Legion TD 2 - Multiplayer Tower Defense 2021 · $9.5M Age of Darkness: Final Stand 2025 · $8.0M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville™ older $29.99 15,372 71% 461k $14M (exactly $13,830,188) PopCap
Orcs Must Die! 3 older $29.99 10,930 85% 328k $9.8M (exactly $9,833,721) Robot Entertainment
Diplomacy is Not an Option $29.99 10,904 85% 327k $9.8M (exactly $9,810,329) Door 407
Legion TD 2 - Multiplayer Tower Defense older $24.99 12,607 86% 378k $9.5M (exactly $9,451,468) AutoAttack Games
Age of Darkness: Final Stand $27.99 9,486 74% 285k $8.0M (exactly $7,965,394) PlaySide
Mindustry older $9.99 24,608 95% 738k $7.4M (exactly $7,375,018) AnukenDev
Dungeon Defenders older $14.99 12,148 93% 364k $5.5M (exactly $5,462,956) Chromatic Games
Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap $29.99 4,053 69% 122k $3.6M (exactly $3,646,484) Robot Entertainment
HYPERCHARGE: Unboxed older $24.99 3,798 90% 114k $2.8M (exactly $2,847,361) Digital Cybercherries
Lessaria: Fantasy Kingdom Sim $24.90 2,938 77% 88k $2.2M (exactly $2,194,686) Rockbee Team
Sir, We Have an Orc Problem $9.99 4,123 86% 124k $1.2M (exactly $1,235,663) Mumpitz Games
EverSiege: Untold Ages $19.99 1,906 68% 57k $1.1M (exactly $1,143,028) Tindalos Interactive
Human Host · EA $16.88 866 83% 26k $439k (exactly $438,542) Virtual Matrix Studio
Axon TD: Uprising - Tower Defense $19.99 706 85% 21k $423k (exactly $423,388) Element Studios
Survival Machine $19.99 692 69% 21k $415k (exactly $414,992) Grape Pickers
Dungeon Warfare 3 $18.99 679 78% 20k $387k (exactly $386,826) Excidium Inc., Valsar

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