Games › Survival Horror › Survival Horror + Base Building
Should I ship a Base Building Survival Horror?
Survival Horror + Base Building
Of 60 developers who shipped a Base Building 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.. 135 more are announced, ×4.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $7.2k, ×11 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.5k; 1 in 20 cleared $7.7M, ×12420 the market median. Revenue is up 310% on the market; 135 games are announced against 33 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.5k (exactly $1,468) |
|---|---|
| Median | $7.2k (exactly $7,195) |
| Top 25% | $116k (exactly $115,742) |
| Top 5% | $7.8M (exactly $7,799,846) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 60 |
| Released games | 142 |
| Announced | 135 |
| Effort | 6 / 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 310% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 3%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Base Building
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Survival Horror, Base Building; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Exploration, Open World
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 180,265 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.5k. 6 in 10 of the 28 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 135 games are announced against 33 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Survival Horror with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVFair
- + DrivingFair
- + Tower DefenseFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + SnowFair
- + SportsFair
- + Outbreak SimFair
- + 3D PlatformerFair
- + Boomer ShooterFair
- + Turn-Based CombatPoor odds
- + LGBTQ+Poor odds
- + Spectacle fighterPoor odds
Comparable games
Subnautica 2018 · $307M 
Sons Of The Forest 2024 · $256M 
Subnautica 2 2026 · EA · $105M 
Subnautica: Below Zero 2021 · $89M 
Green Hell 2019 · $60M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Subnautica | older | $29.99 | 341,390 97% | 10M | $307M (exactly $307,148,583) | Unknown Worlds Entertainment |
| | Sons Of The Forest | older | $29.99 | 284,572 88% | 8.5M | $256M (exactly $256,029,428) | Endnight Games Ltd |
| | Subnautica 2 | · EA | $29.99 | 116,852 91% | 3.5M | $105M (exactly $105,131,744) | Unknown Worlds Entertainment |
| | Subnautica: Below Zero | older | $29.99 | 99,384 90% | 3.0M | $89M (exactly $89,415,785) | Unknown Worlds Entertainment |
| | Green Hell | older | $24.99 | 79,392 84% | 2.4M | $60M (exactly $59,520,182) | Creepy Jar |
 | Generation Zero® | older | $24.99 | 29,115 75% | 873k | $22M (exactly $21,827,516) | Systemic Reaction™ |
 | Pacific Drive | older | $29.99 | 21,547 83% | 646k | $19M (exactly $19,385,836) | Ironwood Studios |
 | Chernobylite Complete Edition | older | $29.99 | 12,416 81% | 372k | $11M (exactly $11,170,675) | The Farm 51 |
 | Night of the Dead | older | $29.99 | 10,380 77% | 311k | $9.3M (exactly $9,338,886) | Jackto Studios |
 | 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 | |
 | VEIN | · EA | $19.99 | 11,539 87% | 346k | $6.9M (exactly $6,919,938) | Ramjet Studios |
 | HumanitZ | $19.99 | 11,155 74% | 335k | $6.7M (exactly $6,689,653) | Yodubzz Studios | |
 | IfSunSets | · EA | $19.99 | 2,284 74% | 69k | $1.4M (exactly $1,369,715) | POLYMORPH |
 | DarkSwitch | $34.99 | 714 77% | 21k | $749k (exactly $749,486) | Cyber Temple | |
 | Chernobylite 2: Exclusion Zone | · EA | $39.99 | 528 62% | 16k | $633k (exactly $633,442) | The Farm 51 |
 | GRAIN ROT | $9.99 | 1,845 88% | 55k | $553k (exactly $552,946) | Beck & Branch Games | |
 | Outbreak Island | · EA | $14.99 | 955 78% | 29k | $429k (exactly $429,464) | Tiny Magicians |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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