Do I ship it?

Games › Survival Horror › Survival Horror + Arcade

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Arcade Survival Horror?

Survival Horror + Arcade

Of 92 developers who shipped an Arcade Survival Horror 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.. 91 more are announced.

Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $360 in the last 2 years and $450 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 6 / 10 build. 63 developers shipped in the last year and 91 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.6 times the market baseline, revenue up 200% on the market, 91 announced, ×1.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Survival Horror + Arcade
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 92
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.6k → $838 → $719 → $269 → $239 → $537 → $479 (still earning) → $359 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Survival Horror + Arcade: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 92
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $359 (exactly $359)
Top 25% $2.4k (exactly $2,394)
Top 5% $43k (exactly $43,413)
Developers, 2 yr 92
Released games 295
Announced 91
Effort 6 / 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 200% on the market, supply 115% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 15%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Survival Horror
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Arcade
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Survival Horror, Arcade; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Action-Adventure
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Atmospheric, Dark
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 87% positive over 2,204 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $150, median $360, 1 in 4 over $2.3k, 1 in 20 over $43k.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 34 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 91 games are announced against 63 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Survival Horror with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + FMVFair13 devs · median $31k · 14 announced
  2. + DrivingFair20 devs · median $4.9k · 25 announced
  3. + Tower DefenseFair14 devs · median $1.9k · 16 announced
  4. + IncrementalFair16 devs · median $1.6k · 19 announced
  5. + SnowFair17 devs · median $1.2k · 15 announced
  6. + SportsFair5 devs · median $959 · 3 announced
  7. + Outbreak SimFair22 devs · median $958 · 24 announced
  8. + 3D PlatformerFair111 devs · median $539 · 104 announced
  9. + Boomer ShooterFair27 devs · median $449 · 28 announced
  10. + Turn-Based CombatPoor odds10 devs · median $64k · 42 announced
  11. + LGBTQ+Poor odds17 devs · median $52k · 21 announced
  12. + Spectacle fighterPoor odds8 devs · median $52k · 12 announced

All 159 pairs on the Survival Horror page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Alan Wake's American Nightmare 2012 · $2.3M GENSOU Skydrift 2019 · $404k It Steals 2020 · $321k Supernatural 2024 · $318k Kong: Survivor Instinct 2024 · $253k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Alan Wake's American Nightmare older $8.99 8,352 74% 251k $2.3M (exactly $2,252,534) Remedy Entertainment
GENSOU Skydrift older $23.99 561 88% 17k $404k (exactly $403,752) illuCalab
It Steals older $4.99 2,144 98% 64k $321k (exactly $320,957) Zeekerss
Supernatural older $8.99 1,180 63% 35k $318k (exactly $318,246) Hitori De Productions
Kong: Survivor Instinct $24.99 338 71% 10k $253k (exactly $253,399) 7Levels
Christmas Massacre older $7.99 1,015 91% 30k $243k (exactly $243,296) Puppet Combo
Anarchy: Wolf's law older $9.99 768 76% 23k $230k (exactly $230,170) Anarchy Games
The Bleakest Keep $9.99 719 90% 22k $215k (exactly $215,484) Cache of Bones
Clownfield 2042 older $0.99 3,964 84% 119k $118k (exactly $117,731) RIVERSIDE SPORTS
Last Floor older $9.99 305 70% 9.2k $91k (exactly $91,408) AK Studio
Fright Train $15.99 139 89% 4.2k $67k (exactly $66,678) WildArts Games
KUNKUN Defender 2 $4.99 294 94% 8.8k $44k (exactly $44,012) Seal
Jeffrey Eggstein · EA $4.99 290 94% 8.7k $43k (exactly $43,413) Grabba Guild Games LLC
Smilers Den Deluxxx $6.99 160 84% 4.8k $34k (exactly $33,552) MikiY
Cyber Rats $7.99 129 90% 3.9k $31k (exactly $30,921) Outpost Games
VonGarland Castle : Beyond Blood $14.99 42 57% 1.3k $19k (exactly $18,887) Ash Jackson
Slaughter Me Street: 1999 $4.99 72 97% 2.2k $11k (exactly $10,778) GlitchedLizard, Nate Sanders
Trenches VR $14.99 21 66% 630 $9.4k (exactly $9,444) Steelkrill Studio

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.