Do I ship it?

Games › Survival Horror › Survival Horror + Bullet Hell

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Bullet Hell Survival Horror?

Survival Horror + Bullet Hell

Of 29 developers who shipped a Bullet Hell 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.. 28 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $300 in the last 2 years and $300 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 6 / 10 build. 11 developers shipped in the last year and 28 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.5 times the market baseline, revenue up 10% on the market, 28 announced, ×2.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Survival Horror + Bullet Hell
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 29
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $449 → $390 → $208 → $150 → $899 → $480 → $802 (still earning) → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Survival Horror + Bullet Hell: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 29
Bottom 30% $90 (exactly $90)
Median $299 (exactly $299)
Top 25% $1.9k (exactly $1,851)
Top 5% $42k (exactly $41,766)
Developers, 2 yr 29
Released games 86
Announced 28
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $3.99

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 10% on the market, supply 40% fewer 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
Bullet Hell
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, Bullet Hell; 9 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Action Roguelike, Roguelike
Price point
$3.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Top-Down
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $3.99.

The top 10 games average 74% positive over 962 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $90, median $300, 1 in 4 over $1.8k, 1 in 20 over $41k.

3 in 10 developers made under $90. 8 in 10 of the 21 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 28 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.

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

Sexy Mystic Survivors 2022 · EA · $556k Glory & Miserable Survivors DX 2023 · $446k Return to abyss 重返深渊 2023 · $142k Choo Choo Survivor 2023 · $84k Project RIP 2019 · $51k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Sexy Mystic Survivors · EA older $9.99 1,856 75% 56k $556k (exactly $556,243) Fantasize Games
Glory & Miserable Survivors DX older $9.99 1,488 88% 45k $446k (exactly $445,954) TLACHTLI
Return to abyss 重返深渊 older $4.99 949 79% 28k $142k (exactly $142,065) Wingjoy Games
Choo Choo Survivor older $4.99 563 85% 17k $84k (exactly $84,281) GTGD
Project RIP older $13.99 121 61% 3.6k $51k (exactly $50,784) Storming Tech
GUNTOUCHABLES $4.99 336 75% 10k $50k (exactly $50,299) Game Swing
Gun Brothers older $19.99 72 27% 2.2k $43k (exactly $43,178) Rootify
The Last Man Survivor $4.99 279 67% 8.4k $42k (exactly $41,766) Renderise
Harem of Gods $9.99 109 63% 3.3k $33k (exactly $32,667) Sweet Cakes Games
Rotten Flesh - Cosmic Horror Survival Game older $11.99 90 68% 2.7k $32k (exactly $32,373) Steelkrill Studio
KUNKUN League $2.99 123 98% 3.7k $11k (exactly $11,033) Seal
Apocalypse Survivors $8.99 26 57% 780 $7.0k (exactly $7,012) The Last One
Pizza Delivery Survivors · EA $9.99 13 100% 390 $3.9k (exactly $3,896) Conglomerated Industries
Maku $2.99 36 75% 1.1k $3.2k (exactly $3,229) whelp
STAND: Survive, Team-up, And Never Die $1.99 31 67% 930 $1.9k (exactly $1,851) Studio Jylko
Catjinni Survivors $9.99 6 100% 180 $1.8k (exactly $1,798) Niel Widy
Hellfire Rampage VR $9.99 3 66% 90 $899 (exactly $899) Nazar Korinnyi

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