Do I ship it?

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Specimen · observed

Should I ship a PvE Vehicular Combat game?

PvE + Vehicular Combat

Of 111 developers who shipped a PvE Vehicular Combat 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.. 236 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 $1.1k, ×1.7 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $270; 1 in 20 cleared $1.2M, ×2016 the market median. Revenue is up 30% on the market; 236 games are announced against 70 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.7 times the market baseline, revenue up 30% on the market, 236 announced, ×3.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
PvE + Vehicular Combat
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 111
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.3k → $597 → $598 → $359 → $1.3k → $1.8k → $1.1k (still earning) → $449 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for PvE + Vehicular Combat: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 111
Bottom 30% $269 (exactly $269)
Median $1.1k (exactly $1,078)
Top 25% $13k (exactly $12,594)
Top 5% $1.3M (exactly $1,266,355)
Developers, 2 yr 111
Released games 276
Announced 236
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $9.99

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 30% on the market, supply 70% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 18%, 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
Vehicular Combat
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium 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, Vehicular Combat; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Open World, Shooter
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 68% positive over 33,020 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $270, median $1.1k, 1 in 4 over $12k, 1 in 20 over $1.2M.

3 in 10 developers made under $270. 9 in 10 of the 48 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 236 games are announced against 70 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

Besiege 2020 · $22M MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries 2021 · $12M Avorion 2020 · $9.7M SAND: Raiders of Sophie 2026 · EA · $9.4M John Carpenter's Toxic Commando 2026 · $7.5M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Besiege older $14.99 48,045 95% 1.4M $22M (exactly $21,605,836) Spiderling Studios
MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries older $29.99 13,347 84% 400k $12M (exactly $12,008,296) Piranha Games Inc.
Avorion older $24.99 13,001 90% 390k $9.7M (exactly $9,746,850) Boxelware
SAND: Raiders of Sophie · EA $24.99 12,485 49% 375k $9.4M (exactly $9,360,004) Hologryph, TowerHaus
John Carpenter's Toxic Commando $39.99 6,274 72% 188k $7.5M (exactly $7,526,918) Saber Interactive
Sprocket · EA older $19.99 12,336 92% 370k $7.4M (exactly $7,397,899) Hamish Dunn
Pax Autocratica · EA $29.99 3,202 91% 96k $2.9M (exactly $2,880,839) Multiverse
Silica · EA older $19.99 4,468 77% 134k $2.7M (exactly $2,679,460) Martin 'Dram' Melichárek
Screamer $59.99 1,039 80% 31k $1.9M (exactly $1,869,888) Milestone S.r.l.
Lost Skies $24.99 2,470 63% 74k $1.9M (exactly $1,851,759) Bossa Studios
FUMES · EA $14.99 2,816 95% 84k $1.3M (exactly $1,266,355) FUMES team
Task Force Admiral - Vol.1: American Carrier Battles · EA $39.99 633 87% 19k $759k (exactly $759,410) Drydock Dreams Games
Badlands Crew - Drive, Command, Conquer $18.99 1,126 78% 34k $641k (exactly $641,482) Runner Duck
TerraTech Legion $9.99 2,109 81% 63k $632k (exactly $632,067) Payload Studios
Human Host · EA $16.88 866 83% 26k $439k (exactly $438,542) Virtual Matrix Studio

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