Do I ship it?

GamesSurvivalSurvival + 6DOF

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a 6DOF Survival game?

Survival + 6DOF

Of 27 developers who shipped a 6DOF Survival 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.. 46 more are announced, ×5.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $1.5k, ×2.4 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $290k, ×472 the market median. Revenue is down 55% on the market; 46 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.4 times the market baseline, revenue down 55% on the market, 46 announced, ×5.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Survival + 6DOF
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 27
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $12k → $13k → $356 → $1.8k → $24k → $359 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Survival + 6DOF: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 27
Bottom 30% $359 (exactly $359)
Median $1.5k (exactly $1,499)
Top 25% $11k (exactly $11,394)
Top 5% $296k (exactly $296,252)
Developers, 2 yr 27
Released games 86
Announced 46
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
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 down 55% on the market, supply 50% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 6%, 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 medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Survival
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
6DOF
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 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
Survival, 6DOF; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Shooter
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, 3D, Realistic
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 82% positive over 2,521 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $360, median $1.5k, 1 in 4 over $11k, 1 in 20 over $290k.

3 in 10 developers made under $360. 9 in 10 of the 18 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 46 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.1 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Survival with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + FMVStrong odds14 devs · median $74k · 10 announced
  2. + Social DeductionFair31 devs · median $6.2k · 35 announced
  3. + Word GameFair22 devs · median $2.1k · 29 announced
  4. + CatsFair33 devs · median $1.2k · 34 announced
  5. + CollectathonFair77 devs · median $1.0k · 84 announced
  6. + IdlerFair96 devs · median $836 · 99 announced
  7. + Auto BattlerFair79 devs · median $807 · 90 announced
  8. + IncrementalFair101 devs · median $599 · 130 announced
  9. + DogsFair20 devs · median $535 · 19 announced
  10. + Martial ArtsLong shot19 devs · median $419 · 17 announced
  11. + Boomer ShooterLong shot39 devs · median $359 · 32 announced
  12. + DiplomacyPoor odds16 devs · median $100k · 28 announced

All 234 pairs on the Survival page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
EVERSPACE™ older $19.99 9,809 77% 294k $5.9M (exactly $5,882,457) ROCKFISH Games
Bootstrap Island $24.99 1,362 81% 41k $1.0M (exactly $1,021,091) Maru VR
Death in the Water 2 older $14.99 1,734 83% 52k $780k (exactly $779,780) Lighthouse Games Studio
Pih older $8.99 1,767 94% 53k $477k (exactly $476,560) BecomeANobody
Wanted Raccoon · EA older $16.99 660 72% 20k $336k (exactly $336,402) MAD Sprouts
Firehawk: FPV Drone Shooter $19.99 494 91% 15k $296k (exactly $296,252) TruePlayers
Apocalyptic Vibes older $19.99 309 73% 9.3k $185k (exactly $185,307) Amanito Computing
Forest Doesn’t Care $13.99 251 65% 7.5k $105k (exactly $105,345) MOROZ GAMES
Death Horizon: Reloaded older $19.99 76 80% 2.3k $46k (exactly $45,577) Horizon Lab LLP
Deep Eclipse: New Space Odyssey older $6.99 165 73% 5.0k $35k (exactly $34,600) Ultravision Interactive
IRON GUARD: Salvation $17.99 44 93% 1.3k $24k (exactly $23,747) Xlab Digital
Penguin Lifter $4.99 125 88% 3.8k $19k (exactly $18,712) Peace_Studio, DonCorsaire
Death Horizon: Cyberfusion $7.99 61 67% 1.8k $15k (exactly $14,622) Horizon Lab
Harpagun $19.99 19 73% 570 $11k (exactly $11,394) Something Random
T.D.Z. 4 Chapter 1 - Arrival $5.99 38 92% 1.1k $6.8k (exactly $6,829) Team GZ, VADIM CHURILOV
Blood Night · EA $1.99 109 95% 3.3k $6.5k (exactly $6,507) Team
Evacuation Zone: Tampere $11.99 18 88% 540 $6.5k (exactly $6,475) Virtual Dawn

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