Do I ship it?

Games › PvE › PvE + Twin Stick Shooter

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a PvE Twin Stick Shooter?

PvE + Twin Stick Shooter

Of 110 developers who shipped a PvE Twin Stick 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.. 216 more are announced, ×3.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $360, ×0.6 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150. 216 games are announced against 63 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.4 per shipper, while revenue is down 45% on the market.

Deciding numbers: median 0.6 times the market baseline, revenue down 45% on the market, 216 announced, ×3.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
PvE + Twin Stick Shooter
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 110
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.2k → $1.9k → $809 → $1.5k → $479 → $449 → $239 (still earning) → $359 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for PvE + Twin Stick Shooter: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 110
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $359 (exactly $359)
Top 25% $2.1k (exactly $2,096)
Top 5% $81k (exactly $80,919)
Developers, 2 yr 110
Released games 278
Announced 216
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 35% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 17%, 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
Twin Stick Shooter
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, Twin Stick Shooter; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Action Roguelike, Roguelite
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Top-Down, 2D, Pixel Graphics
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 86% positive over 13,134 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 $360, 1 in 4 over $2.0k, 1 in 20 over $80k.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 57 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 216 games are announced against 63 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.4 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

The Ascent 2021 · $17M Rogue: Genesia 2025 · $3.6M Atomicrops 2020 · $2.3M SYNTHETIK 2 2021 · EA · $1.9M ENDLESS Dungeon™ - Definitive Edition 2023 · $1.3M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
The Ascent older $29.99 19,235 74% 577k $17M (exactly $17,305,730) Neon Giant
Rogue: Genesia $14.99 8,111 90% 243k $3.6M (exactly $3,647,517) Ouadi Huard
Atomicrops older $14.99 5,134 93% 154k $2.3M (exactly $2,308,760) Bird Bath Games
SYNTHETIK 2 · EA older $19.99 3,202 81% 96k $1.9M (exactly $1,920,239) Flow Fire Games
ENDLESS Dungeon™ - Definitive Edition older $14.99 2,953 64% 89k $1.3M (exactly $1,327,964) AMPLITUDE Studios
Revita older $16.99 1,734 83% 52k $884k (exactly $883,820) BenStar
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.
Hell is Others older $14.99 991 73% 30k $446k (exactly $445,653) Strelka Games, Yonder
RIFTSTORM · EA $14.99 659 70% 20k $296k (exactly $296,352) Confiction Labs, Agate
CyberCorp $14.99 351 75% 11k $158k (exactly $157,845) Megame LLC
The Horde Wants You Dead $9.99 270 64% 8.1k $81k (exactly $80,919) Bellyflop Games
Survivor Mercs $9.99 147 70% 4.4k $44k (exactly $44,056) Wolpertinger Games
Donuts for Deer Teeth $6.99 192 98% 5.8k $40k (exactly $40,262) posmnaut, Hefty Totem, BirdLovely, Mizu… (posmnaut, Hefty Totem, BirdLovely, MizuBlackRiver, Prahno Audio)
Kritter: Defend Together $9.99 109 86% 3.3k $33k (exactly $32,667) LJF Games
Elite Exorcist Miko · EA $9.99 104 96% 3.1k $31k (exactly $31,169) tian nya

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