Games › Building › Building + Dark Fantasy
Should I ship a Dark-Fantasy Building game?
Building + Dark Fantasy
Of 62 developers who shipped a Dark-Fantasy 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.. 148 more are announced, ×3.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $5.1k, ×8.1 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $720; 1 in 20 cleared $740k, ×1193 the market median. Revenue is up 110% on the market; 148 games are announced against 39 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $719 (exactly $719) |
|---|---|
| Median | $5.1k (exactly $5,095) |
| Top 25% | $100k (exactly $100,153) |
| Top 5% | $749k (exactly $749,486) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 62 |
| Released games | 141 |
| Announced | 148 |
| 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 110% on the market, supply 65% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 10%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Building
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Dark Fantasy
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Building; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Exploration, Base Building, Strategy
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 5 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 17,246 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $720. 7 in 10 of the 24 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 148 games are announced against 39 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Building with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Job SimulatorStrong odds
- + CatsFair
- + TabletopFair
- + Grid-Based MovementFair
- + Interactive FictionFair
- + Vehicular CombatPoor odds
- + JRPGPoor odds
- + Dating SimPoor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + Real-TimePoor odds
- + CrimePoor odds
- + SailingPoor odds
Comparable games
V Rising 2024 · $116M 
Age of Darkness: Final Stand 2025 · $8.0M 
ASKA 2024 · EA · $7.8M 
Reign Of Kings 2015 · $3.5M 
TaleSpire 2021 · EA · $3.3M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | V Rising | older | $34.99 | 110,505 89% | 3.3M | $116M (exactly $115,997,098) | Stunlock Studios |
| | Age of Darkness: Final Stand | $27.99 | 9,486 74% | 285k | $8.0M (exactly $7,965,394) | PlaySide | |
| | ASKA | · EA older | $24.99 | 10,457 79% | 314k | $7.8M (exactly $7,839,613) | Sand Sailor Studio |
| | Reign Of Kings | older | $9.99 | 11,838 56% | 355k | $3.5M (exactly $3,547,849) | Code}{atch |
| | TaleSpire | · EA older | $24.99 | 4,391 89% | 132k | $3.3M (exactly $3,291,933) | Bouncyrock Entertainment |
 | Blackthorn Arena | older | $24.99 | 3,477 69% | 104k | $2.6M (exactly $2,606,707) | PersonaeGame Studio |
 | REKA | · EA older | $19.99 | 2,989 82% | 90k | $1.8M (exactly $1,792,503) | Emberstorm Entertainment |
 | Frozen Flame | · EA older | $19.99 | 2,231 61% | 67k | $1.3M (exactly $1,337,931) | Dreamside Interactive |
 | Master of Magic | older | $39.99 | 1,023 71% | 31k | $1.2M (exactly $1,227,293) | MuHa Games, Eerie Forest Studio |
 | GemCraft - Frostborn Wrath | older | $12.99 | 2,691 88% | 81k | $1.0M (exactly $1,048,683) | Game in a Bottle |
 | Worshippers of Cthulhu | $24.99 | 1,305 80% | 39k | $978k (exactly $978,358) | Crazy Goat Games | |
 | YAR: Forgotten Throne | $19.99 | 1,283 89% | 38k | $769k (exactly $769,415) | Honor Games | |
 | DarkSwitch | $34.99 | 714 77% | 21k | $749k (exactly $749,486) | Cyber Temple | |
 | Devil Spire Falls | · EA | $14.99 | 1,068 94% | 32k | $480k (exactly $480,280) | Ithiro Sumi |
 | Elemental: Reforged | $29.99 | 478 73% | 14k | $430k (exactly $430,057) | Stardock Entertainment | |
 | Crown of Greed | $19.99 | 680 60% | 20k | $408k (exactly $407,796) | BLUM Entertainment | |
 | Achilles: Survivor | $8.99 | 1,454 81% | 44k | $392k (exactly $392,144) | Dark Point Games | |
 | Ark of Charon | $24.99 | 389 75% | 12k | $292k (exactly $291,633) | Angoo Inc., SUNSOFT | |
 | Regions of Ruin: Runegate | $19.99 | 389 84% | 12k | $233k (exactly $233,283) | Gameclaw Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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