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Should I ship a Demon Base Building game?
Base Building + Demons
Of 21 developers who shipped a Demon Base Building 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.. 43 more are announced, ×3.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $11k, ×18 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $3.6k; 1 in 20 cleared $290k, ×462 the market median. Revenue is up 45% on the market; 43 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $3.6k (exactly $3,591) |
|---|---|
| Median | $11k (exactly $11,058) |
| Top 25% | $60k (exactly $59,676) |
| Top 5% | $290k (exactly $290,134) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 21 |
| Released games | 49 |
| Announced | 43 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 45% on the market, supply 10% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 8%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Base Building
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Demons
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Base Building; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Building, Strategy
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 77% positive over 2,970 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $3.6k. 6 in 10 of the 11 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 43 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.9 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Base Building with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + ProgrammingFair
- + DwarvesFair
- + Bullet HellFair
- + DiplomacyPoor odds
- + SailingPoor odds
- + Dating SimPoor odds
- + TrainsPoor odds
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + UndergroundPoor odds
- + MarsPoor odds
- + HistoricalPoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Worshippers of Cthulhu | $24.99 | 1,305 80% | 39k | $978k (exactly $978,358) | Crazy Goat Games | |
| | Night is Coming | · EA | $24.99 | 387 59% | 12k | $290k (exactly $290,134) | Wild Forest Studio |
| | Hell Architect | older | $24.99 | 356 65% | 11k | $267k (exactly $266,893) | Woodland Games |
| | Concubine | · EA | $14.99 | 517 81% | 16k | $232k (exactly $232,495) | Upgrade Entertainment |
| | Spirits of the Hellements - TD | older | $11.99 | 326 92% | 9.8k | $117k (exactly $117,262) | Hippo Rider Games |
| | Hauntsville | $18.99 | 189 68% | 5.7k | $108k (exactly $107,673) | Michael Janisch | |
| | Lazy Witch's Factory | · EA | $15.99 | 204 91% | 6.1k | $98k (exactly $97,859) | MELTCLOCK.Inc |
| | ArkCraft: The Rebirth of the World | $10.99 | 181 71% | 5.4k | $60k (exactly $59,676) | ZD Yazilim | |
| | Horror Tycoon | · EA older | $14.99 | 90 61% | 2.7k | $40k (exactly $40,473) | Smidge Games LLC |
| | Forbidden Ingress | older | $4.99 | 228 75% | 6.8k | $34k (exactly $34,132) | Strange_Indie_Team |
| | My Infamous Dungeon | $14.99 | 63 76% | 1.9k | $28k (exactly $28,331) | BoxFox Studios | |
| | Fortifend | $15.99 | 39 89% | 1.2k | $19k (exactly $18,708) | Side Crumb | |
| | Flow Of War | $12.99 | 40 85% | 1.2k | $16k (exactly $15,588) | Rongcon Games | |
| | Flocking Hell | $9.99 | 45 93% | 1.4k | $13k (exactly $13,486) | Sextant Studios |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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