Games › Adventure › Adventure + Demons
Should I ship a Demon Adventure game?
Adventure + Demons
Of 574 developers who shipped a Demon Adventure 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.. 784 more are announced, ×2.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.4k, ×3.0 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $330; 1 in 20 cleared $270k, ×579 the market median. Revenue is up 20% on the market; 784 games are announced against 301 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $329 (exactly $329) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.4k (exactly $1,438) |
| Top 25% | $8.5k (exactly $8,544) |
| Top 5% | $275k (exactly $274,825) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 574 |
| Released games | 1,631 |
| Announced | 784 |
| Effort | 4 / 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 20% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 12%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Adventure; 3 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Exploration, Action-Adventure
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $18.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, Dark, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $18.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 91,645 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $330. 8 in 10 of the 351 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 784 games are announced against 301 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Adventure with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + SamuraiFair
- + FMVFair
- + PinballFair
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + Escape RoomFair
- + Mini GolfFair
- + SportsFair
- + GolfFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + Time AttackFair
- + Traditional RoguelikeFair
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | DOOM Eternal | older | $29.99 | 187,483 91% | 5.6M | $169M (exactly $168,678,455) | id Software |
| | Devil May Cry 5 | older | $29.99 | 119,108 96% | 3.6M | $107M (exactly $107,161,468) | CAPCOM Co., Ltd. |
| | DOOM: The Dark Ages | $49.99 | 32,209 88% | 966k | $48M (exactly $48,303,837) | id Software | |
| | Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles | older | $59.99 | 16,545 87% | 496k | $30M (exactly $29,776,036) | CyberConnect2 |
| | Mortal Shell II | $49.99 | 18,644 79% | 559k | $28M (exactly $27,960,407) | Cold Symmetry | |
| | ASTLIBRA Revision | older | $24.99 | 30,262 95% | 908k | $23M (exactly $22,687,421) | KEIZO |
| | Shadow Warrior 2 | older | $29.99 | 24,120 87% | 724k | $22M (exactly $21,700,764) | Flying Wild Hog |
| | DmC: Devil May Cry | older | $29.99 | 20,938 93% | 628k | $19M (exactly $18,837,919) | Ninja Theory |
| | Devil May Cry HD Collection | older | $29.99 | 19,493 93% | 585k | $18M (exactly $17,537,852) | CAPCOM Co., Ltd. |
| | Evil West | older | $49.99 | 10,215 74% | 306k | $15M (exactly $15,319,436) | Flying Wild Hog |
| | Ghost Watchers | $14.99 | 12,729 86% | 382k | $5.7M (exactly $5,724,231) | Renderise | |
| | Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles 2 | $59.99 | 2,879 83% | 86k | $5.2M (exactly $5,181,336) | CyberConnect2 | |
| | Look Outside | $9.99 | 13,586 98% | 408k | $4.1M (exactly $4,071,724) | Francis Coulombe | |
| | Legacy of Kain™ Soul Reaver 1&2 Remastered | $29.99 | 3,042 90% | 91k | $2.7M (exactly $2,736,887) | Aspyr, Crystal Dynamics | |
| | NINJA GAIDEN: Ragebound | $24.99 | 2,500 92% | 75k | $1.9M (exactly $1,874,250) | The Game Kitchen | |
| | Skate Story | $19.99 | 2,733 96% | 82k | $1.6M (exactly $1,638,980) | by Sam Eng | |
| | RAIDOU Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army | $49.99 | 1,045 93% | 31k | $1.6M (exactly $1,567,186) | ATLUS | |
| | Silly Polly Beast | $19.99 | 2,278 90% | 68k | $1.4M (exactly $1,366,117) | Anji |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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