Games › Action Roguelike › Action Roguelike + Perma Death
Should I ship a Perma Death Action Roguelike?
Action Roguelike + Perma Death
Of 349 developers who shipped a Perma Death Action 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.. 633 more are announced, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.5k, ×3.1 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $150k, ×327 the market median. Revenue is up 20% on the market; 633 games are announced against 204 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $299 (exactly $299) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.5k (exactly $1,470) |
| Top 25% | $7.8k (exactly $7,821) |
| Top 5% | $155k (exactly $155,322) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 349 |
| Released games | 927 |
| Announced | 633 |
| Effort | 4 / 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 up 20% on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 9%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Action Roguelike
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Perma Death
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Action Roguelike, Perma Death; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Roguelike, Roguelite
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, Difficult
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 95% positive over 477,570 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 9 in 10 of the 160 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 633 games are announced against 204 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Action Roguelike with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + RomanceStrong odds
- + Creature CollectorFair
- + SportsFair
- + Boss RushFair
- + VampiresFair
- + IdlerFair
- + DogsFair
- + Precision PlatformerFair
- + FaithFair
- + Character Action GamePoor odds
- + Dating SimPoor odds
- + MechsPoor odds
Comparable games
Hades 2020 · $214M 
Hades II 2025 · $103M 
R.E.P.O. 2025 · EA · $102M 
Noita 2020 · $49M 
Roboquest 2023 · $14M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Hades | older | $24.99 | 285,748 97% | 8.6M | $214M (exactly $214,225,276) | Supergiant Games |
| | Hades II | $29.99 | 114,419 95% | 3.4M | $103M (exactly $102,942,774) | Supergiant Games | |
| | R.E.P.O. | · EA | $9.99 | 341,004 96% | 10M | $102M (exactly $102,198,899) | semiwork |
| | Noita | older | $19.99 | 81,149 95% | 2.4M | $49M (exactly $48,665,055) | Nolla Games |
| | Roboquest | older | $24.99 | 19,158 95% | 575k | $14M (exactly $14,362,753) | RyseUp Studios |
 | Spelunky 2 | older | $19.99 | 19,736 93% | 592k | $12M (exactly $11,835,679) | Mossmouth, BlitWorks |
 | Crab Champions | · EA older | $9.99 | 26,546 97% | 796k | $8.0M (exactly $7,955,836) | Noisestorm |
 | The Binding of Isaac | older | $4.99 | 49,208 94% | 1.5M | $7.4M (exactly $7,366,438) | Edmund McMillen, Florian Himsl |
 | Spelunky | older | $14.99 | 14,676 92% | 440k | $6.6M (exactly $6,599,797) | Mossmouth |
 | Risk of Rain (2013) | older | $9.99 | 20,768 93% | 623k | $6.2M (exactly $6,224,170) | Hopoo Games |
 | SWORN | $24.99 | 3,779 80% | 113k | $2.8M (exactly $2,833,116) | Windwalk Games | |
 | Hell Clock | $19.99 | 3,535 82% | 106k | $2.1M (exactly $2,119,940) | Rogue Snail | |
 | Everything is Crab: The Animal Evolution Roguelite | $9.99 | 6,876 76% | 206k | $2.1M (exactly $2,060,737) | Odd Dreams Digital | |
 | Pathogenic | $9.99 | 4,145 92% | 124k | $1.2M (exactly $1,242,256) | Aberrant Labs | |
 | Battle Shapers | $24.99 | 984 80% | 30k | $738k (exactly $737,705) | Metric Empire | |
 | Primordialis | · EA | $19.99 | 974 93% | 29k | $584k (exactly $584,108) | Kyler Natividad, Keith Sammut |
 | LET IT DIE: INFERNO | $24.99 | 774 52% | 23k | $580k (exactly $580,268) | SUPERTRICK GAMES, Inc. | |
 | ODDCORE | · EA | $12.99 | 1,080 96% | 32k | $421k (exactly $420,876) | ODDCORP |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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