Do I ship it?

Games › PvE › PvE + Traditional Roguelike

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a PvE Traditional Roguelike?

PvE + Traditional Roguelike

Of 44 developers who shipped a PvE Traditional Roguelike 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.. 60 more are announced.

Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $480 in the last 2 years and $480 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 6 / 10 build. 34 developers shipped in the last year and 60 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.8 times the market baseline, revenue down 45% on the market, 60 announced, ×1.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
PvE + Traditional Roguelike
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 44
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $179 → $3.7k → $479 → $987 → $449 (still earning) → $225 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for PvE + Traditional Roguelike: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 44
Bottom 30% $239 (exactly $239)
Median $479 (exactly $479)
Top 25% $1.7k (exactly $1,676)
Top 5% $31k (exactly $31,029)
Developers, 2 yr 44
Released games 60
Announced 60
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 down 45% on the market, supply 240% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 5%, 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
Traditional Roguelike
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, Traditional Roguelike; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelike, RPG, Action
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Top-Down, 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 78% positive over 1,522 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $240, median $480, 1 in 4 over $1.6k, 1 in 20 over $31k.

3 in 10 developers made under $240. 9 in 10 of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 60 games are announced against 34 developers who shipped in the last year.

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

Kādomon: Hyper Auto Battlers 2025 · $163k Trials Survivors 2026 · EA · $142k Girl Frame 2025 · $31k Silly Survivors 2025 · $24k Race Jam 2026 · $22k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Kādomon: Hyper Auto Battlers $9.99 543 65% 16k $163k (exactly $162,737) Dino Rocket
Trials Survivors · EA $9.99 475 85% 14k $142k (exactly $142,358) Angry wisp
Girl Frame $14.99 69 68% 2.1k $31k (exactly $31,029) Meow Run, Cat Shine
Silly Survivors $2.99 262 93% 7.9k $24k (exactly $23,501) DenaZ, SillyWorks
Race Jam $19.99 36 97% 1.1k $22k (exactly $21,589) DiffGames LLC
Warlords Battle Simulator $9.99 55 67% 1.7k $16k (exactly $16,484) RedKar Devs
Metamancer $14.99 13 100% 390 $5.8k (exactly $5,846) Colter Grant Robinson
Poker TD $9.99 19 63% 570 $5.7k (exactly $5,694) ViralCloud
Mangui $5.99 25 100% 750 $4.5k (exactly $4,492) Damulchi
Tetra Dungeon $4.99 25 88% 750 $3.7k (exactly $3,742) 套鹿工作室

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