Games › Perma Death › Perma Death + Alternate History
Should I ship an Alternate-History Perma Death game?
Perma Death + Alternate History
Only 13 developers shipped an Alternate-History Perma Death game in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Hell Clock, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 35 more are announced, ×8.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: dead, for a 5 / 10 build.
Only 4 developers shipped this in the last year, under the 5 a verdict needs; over 2 years the middle one made $1.2k against a market of $630. 35 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $30 (exactly $30) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.2k (exactly $1,206) |
| Top 25% | $9.6k (exactly $9,581) |
| Top 5% | $2.1M (exactly $2,119,940) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 13 |
| Released games | 39 |
| Announced | 35 |
| 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 1305% on the market, supply 55% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 18%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Perma Death
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Alternate History
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Perma Death
- Price point
- $4.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 10 games average 82% positive over 3,817 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $50. 9 in 10 of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 35 games are announced against 4 developers who shipped in the last year, ×8.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Perma Death with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + LGBTQ+Strong odds
- + Turn-BasedFair
- + Roguelike DeckbuilderFair
- + Creature CollectorFair
- + Mystery DungeonFair
- + PiratesFair
- + Traditional RoguelikeFair
- + Interactive FictionFair
- + Precision PlatformerFair
- + Time ManagementFair
- + Visual NovelFair
- + 3D PlatformerFair
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | XCOM® 2 | older | $19.99 | 79,998 84% | 2.4M | $48M (exactly $47,974,801) | Firaxis Games, Feral Interactive (Mac),… (Firaxis Games, Feral Interactive (Mac), Feral Interactive (Linux)) |
| | Marauders | · EA older | $29.99 | 13,505 68% | 405k | $12M (exactly $12,150,448) | Small Impact Games |
| | Hell Clock | $19.99 | 3,535 82% | 106k | $2.1M (exactly $2,119,940) | Rogue Snail | |
| | Broken Lines | older | $24.99 | 604 76% | 18k | $453k (exactly $452,819) | BirdIsland/PortaPlay |
| | Super 3-D Noah's Ark | older | $9.99 | 518 92% | 16k | $155k (exactly $155,245) | Wisdom Tree, Inc. |
| | Black Legend | older | $19.99 | 172 62% | 5.2k | $103k (exactly $103,148) | Warcave |
| | Lost:Antinomy | older | $2.99 | 1,042 88% | 31k | $93k (exactly $93,467) | IMaiIna |
| | FEAR OF FAITH | · EA | $9.99 | 117 78% | 3.5k | $35k (exactly $35,065) | UNBREAKABLE ARK |
| | I Shall Remain | older | $9.99 | 99 66% | 3.0k | $30k (exactly $29,670) | Scorpius Games |
| | Long Live Caesar | $9.99 | 51 78% | 1.5k | $15k (exactly $15,285) | Yury Khovansky, Vladislavs Viktorovs | |
| | Italian Brainrot: In Prison | $4.99 | 64 81% | 1.9k | $9.6k (exactly $9,581) | ShLeks, Hero | |
| | Millennium Strategy | $14.99 | 21 85% | 630 | $9.4k (exactly $9,444) | MiMo Games | |
| | Three Sisters | · EA | $5.99 | 10 90% | 300 | $1.8k (exactly $1,797) | CFG Studios |
| | 201 - The Bad Number | $4.02 | 10 80% | 300 | $1.2k (exactly $1,206) | Pavel Kopylov | |
| | Echoes of the Abyss | $4.99 | 7 85% | 210 | $1.0k (exactly $1,048) | RK GAMES | |
| | Struggle | $3.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $120 (exactly $120) | Galactic Lake | |
| | BIORAGE | $0.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $30 (exactly $30) | Phantomahawk |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.