Games › Arcade › Arcade + Lovecraftian
Should I ship a Lovecraftian Arcade game?
Arcade + Lovecraftian
Of 34 developers who shipped a Lovecraftian Arcade 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.. 39 more are announced, ×2.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $960, ×2.0 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $88k, ×186 the market median. Revenue is up 170% on the market; 39 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $179 (exactly $179) |
|---|---|
| Median | $959 (exactly $959) |
| Top 25% | $10k (exactly $10,072) |
| Top 5% | $88k (exactly $88,284) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 34 |
| Released games | 93 |
| Announced | 39 |
| 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 170% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 17%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Arcade
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Lovecraftian
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Arcade; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Exploration, Idler
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, Retro
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 1,635 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $180. 8 in 10 of the 19 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 39 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Arcade with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Roguelike DeckbuilderFair
- + TrainsFair
- + Visual NovelFair
- + MiningFair
- + FaithFair
- + Turn-BasedFair
- + EconomyFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + DeckbuildingFair
- + Card BattlerFair
- + LootFair
- + VampiresFair
Comparable games
Returnal™ 2023 · $12M 
Crawl 2017 · $2.5M 
Thumper 2016 · $2.4M 
Devil Daggers 2016 · $2.2M 
HYPER DEMON 2022 · $1.4M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Returnal™ | older | $59.99 | 6,602 79% | 198k | $12M (exactly $11,881,619) | Housemarque, Climax Studios |
| | Crawl | older | $14.99 | 5,625 95% | 169k | $2.5M (exactly $2,529,562) | Powerhoof |
| | Thumper | older | $19.99 | 4,056 91% | 122k | $2.4M (exactly $2,432,383) | Drool |
| | Devil Daggers | older | $9.99 | 7,442 96% | 223k | $2.2M (exactly $2,230,367) | Sorath |
| | HYPER DEMON | older | $14.99 | 3,087 94% | 93k | $1.4M (exactly $1,388,224) | Sorath |
 | Viscerafest | $19.99 | 540 87% | 16k | $324k (exactly $323,838) | Acid Man Games, Fire Plant Games | |
 | Underspace | · EA older | $19.99 | 434 81% | 13k | $260k (exactly $260,270) | Pastaspace Interactive |
 | Fishing The Abyss | $6.99 | 421 95% | 13k | $88k (exactly $88,284) | umaaaaaa studio | |
 | Death In Abyss | $19.99 | 146 82% | 4.4k | $88k (exactly $87,556) | Agelvik | |
 | Hamilton's Great Adventure | older | $9.99 | 230 69% | 6.9k | $69k (exactly $68,931) | Fatshark |
 | Luck & Loot | $7.99 | 138 90% | 4.1k | $33k (exactly $33,079) | SMARTcreative | |
 | VonGarland Castle : Beyond Blood | $14.99 | 42 57% | 1.3k | $19k (exactly $18,887) | Ash Jackson | |
 | SmashCore | $4.99 | 122 94% | 3.7k | $18k (exactly $18,263) | Braian | |
 | Cult of the Yellow King | · EA | $3.99 | 123 79% | 3.7k | $15k (exactly $14,723) | Metaphor Games, Newmind Interactive |
 | CTHULOOT | $14.99 | 32 81% | 960 | $14k (exactly $14,390) | Pixelnest Studio, Headbang Club | |
 | Ritual Party | · EA | $11.99 | 28 89% | 840 | $10k (exactly $10,072) | Hologram Monster |
 | Paws Coven | $6.99 | 43 67% | 1.3k | $9.0k (exactly $9,017) | Wintercrow Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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