Games › Action › Action + Psychological Horror
Should I ship a Psychological-Horror Action game?
Action + Psychological Horror
Of 1,405 developers who shipped a Psychological-Horror Action 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.. 2,227 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.6k, ×2.5 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $370k, ×594 the market median. Revenue is up 45% on the market; 2,227 games are announced against 798 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $449 (exactly $449) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.6k (exactly $1,556) |
| Top 25% | $9.2k (exactly $9,227) |
| Top 5% | $373k (exactly $372,734) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 1,405 |
| Released games | 4,012 |
| Announced | 2,227 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| 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 up 45% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 11%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Action
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Psychological Horror
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Action; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Survival Horror, Exploration
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, Atmospheric, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 85% positive over 622,019 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $450. 8 in 10 of the 776 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 2,227 games are announced against 798 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Action with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Real-Time with PauseFair
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + PinballFair
- + Escape RoomFair
- + Football (American)Fair
- + BaseballFair
- + BilliardsFair
- + IdlerFair
- + TennisFair
- + Time AttackFair
- + TabletopFair
- + WuxiaPoor odds
Comparable games
HELLDIVERS™ 2 2024 · $1.0B 
Dead by Daylight 2016 · $411M 
Phasmophobia 2020 · EA · $410M 
Ready or Not 2023 · $398M 
Resident Evil 4 2023 · $224M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | HELLDIVERS™ 2 | older | $39.99 | 838,901 76% | 25M | $1.0B (exactly $1,006,429,530) | Arrowhead Game Studios |
| | Dead by Daylight | older | $19.99 | 685,423 78% | 21M | $411M (exactly $411,048,173) | Behaviour Interactive Inc. |
| | Phasmophobia | · EA older | $19.99 | 684,009 94% | 21M | $410M (exactly $410,200,197) | Kinetic Games |
| | Ready or Not | older | $49.99 | 265,219 79% | 8.0M | $398M (exactly $397,748,934) | VOID Interactive |
| | Resident Evil 4 | older | $39.99 | 186,701 97% | 5.6M | $224M (exactly $223,985,190) | CAPCOM Co., Ltd. |
 | Half-Life: Alyx | older | $59.99 | 93,001 98% | 2.8M | $167M (exactly $167,373,900) | Valve |
 | Resident Evil Village | older | $39.99 | 106,447 95% | 3.2M | $128M (exactly $127,704,466) | CAPCOM Co., Ltd. |
 | Lethal Company | · EA older | $9.99 | 411,550 97% | 12M | $123M (exactly $123,341,535) | Zeekerss |
 | Split Fiction | $49.99 | 78,378 97% | 2.4M | $118M (exactly $117,543,487) | Hazelight Studios | |
 | Dead Space | older | $59.99 | 62,997 90% | 1.9M | $113M (exactly $113,375,701) | Motive |
 | Subnautica 2 | · EA | $29.99 | 116,852 91% | 3.5M | $105M (exactly $105,131,744) | Unknown Worlds Entertainment |
 | SILENT HILL 2 | $69.99 | 43,367 94% | 1.3M | $91M (exactly $91,057,690) | Bloober Team SA | |
 | Escape from Tarkov | $49.99 | 55,824 49% | 1.7M | $84M (exactly $83,719,253) | Battlestate Games | |
 | Dragon Age™: The Veilguard | $59.99 | 41,393 67% | 1.2M | $74M (exactly $74,494,982) | BioWare | |
 | Marathon | $39.99 | 44,919 81% | 1.3M | $54M (exactly $53,889,324) | Bungie | |
 | Escape the Backrooms | $9.99 | 137,315 90% | 4.1M | $41M (exactly $41,153,306) | Fancy Games, Blackbird Interactive | |
 | SILENT HILL f | $69.99 | 19,061 80% | 572k | $40M (exactly $40,022,382) | NeoBards Entertainment Ltd. | |
 | SONIC X SHADOW GENERATIONS | $49.99 | 12,178 96% | 365k | $18M (exactly $18,263,347) | Sonic Team | |
 | RV There Yet? | $7.99 | 72,732 90% | 2.2M | $17M (exactly $17,433,860) | Nuggets Entertainment |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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