Games › Adventure › Adventure + Post-apocalyptic
Should I ship a Post-apocalyptic Adventure game?
Adventure + Post-apocalyptic
Of 653 developers who shipped a Post-apocalyptic 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.. 1,412 more are announced, ×3.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.8k, ×2.9 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $420; 1 in 20 cleared $750k, ×1200 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 1,412 games are announced against 369 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $419 (exactly $419) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.8k (exactly $1,796) |
| Top 25% | $21k (exactly $21,279) |
| Top 5% | $753k (exactly $753,448) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 653 |
| Released games | 1,983 |
| Announced | 1,412 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 flat on the market, supply 25% more developers than 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.
- Adventure
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Post-apocalyptic
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Adventure; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Exploration, Survival
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, 3D, Story Rich
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 91% positive over 433,949 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $420. 7 in 10 of the 353 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 1,412 games are announced against 369 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Rust | older | $39.99 | 1,167,920 87% | 35M | $1.4B (exactly $1,401,153,624) | Facepunch Studios |
| | DayZ | older | $49.99 | 387,850 78% | 12M | $582M (exactly $581,658,645) | Bohemia Interactive |
| | Dying Light 2 Stay Human: Reloaded Edition | older | $59.99 | 164,914 79% | 4.9M | $297M (exactly $296,795,726) | Techland |
| | Project Zomboid | · EA older | $24.99 | 364,830 94% | 11M | $274M (exactly $273,513,051) | The Indie Stone |
| | Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 | $49.99 | 181,667 95% | 5.5M | $272M (exactly $272,446,000) | Sandfall Interactive | |
| | Left 4 Dead 2 | older | $9.99 | 816,316 97% | 24M | $245M (exactly $244,649,905) | Valve |
| | Fallout 4 | older | $19.99 | 290,555 81% | 8.7M | $174M (exactly $174,245,834) | Bethesda Game Studios |
| | DOOM Eternal | older | $29.99 | 187,483 91% | 5.6M | $169M (exactly $168,678,455) | id Software |
| | Horizon Zero Dawn™ Complete Edition | older | $49.99 | 95,804 87% | 2.9M | $144M (exactly $143,677,259) | Guerrilla |
| | NieR:Automata™ | older | $39.99 | 115,103 88% | 3.5M | $138M (exactly $138,089,069) | Square Enix, PlatinumGames Inc. |
| | Stellar Blade™ | $59.99 | 61,289 93% | 1.8M | $110M (exactly $110,301,813) | SHIFT UP Corporation | |
| | Dying Light: The Beast | $59.99 | 59,318 87% | 1.8M | $107M (exactly $106,754,605) | Techland | |
| | The Last of Us™ Part II Remastered | $49.99 | 34,252 90% | 1.0M | $51M (exactly $51,367,724) | Naughty Dog LLC, Nixxes Software, Iron… (Naughty Dog LLC, Nixxes Software, Iron Galaxy Studios) | |
| | DEATH STRANDING 2: ON THE BEACH | $69.99 | 15,434 94% | 463k | $32M (exactly $32,406,770) | KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS, Nixxes Software | |
| | AI LIMIT | $34.99 | 22,833 92% | 685k | $24M (exactly $23,967,800) | Sense Games | |
| | Drive Beyond Horizons | · EA | $24.99 | 17,903 77% | 537k | $13M (exactly $13,421,879) | Drive Beyond Horizons |
| | Horizon Zero Dawn™ Remastered | $49.99 | 6,860 84% | 206k | $10M (exactly $10,287,942) | Guerrilla Games, Nixxes Software | |
| | ZERO Sievert | $19.99 | 14,378 84% | 431k | $8.6M (exactly $8,622,487) | CABO Studio | |
| | MISERY | $12.99 | 20,015 85% | 600k | $7.8M (exactly $7,799,846) | Platypus Entertainment |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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