Do I ship it?

Games › Souls-like › Souls-like + Cats

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Cat Souls-like?

Souls-like + Cats

Only 10 developers shipped a Cat Souls-like in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Kristala, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 18 more are announced, ×2.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $6.9k, ×4.6 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $210; 1 in 20 cleared $580k, ×388 the market median. Momentum is unreadable here, too few recent games; 18 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 4.6 times the market baseline, revenue too few recent games to read momentum, 18 announced, ×2.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Souls-like + Cats
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 10
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $12k → $208 → $36k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Souls-like + Cats: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 10
Bottom 30% $208 (exactly $208)
Median $6.9k (exactly $6,886)
Top 25% $27k (exactly $26,500)
Top 5% $582k (exactly $581,854)
Developers, 2 yr 10
Released games 32
Announced 18
Effort 7 / 10
AI-buildability Low
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 too few recent games to read momentum, supply 300% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 9%, 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 low: the lowest rating among its tags.

Souls-like
effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
Cats
effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
Systems
Souls-like
Price point
$4.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 7 games average 79% positive over 1,897 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $210, median $6.9k, 1 in 4 over $26k, 1 in 20 over $580k.

3 in 10 developers made under $210. 18 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.3 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Souls-like with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Dating SimStrong odds17 devs · median $34k · 8 announced
  2. + Visual NovelFair25 devs · median $27k · 17 announced
  3. + Artificial IntelligenceFair13 devs · median $22k · 17 announced
  4. + JRPGFair31 devs · median $8.6k · 35 announced
  5. + IncrementalFair9 devs · median $3.9k · 10 announced
  6. + PsychologicalFair17 devs · median $1.8k · 17 announced
  7. + Walking SimulatorFair17 devs · median $1.3k · 7 announced
  8. + Precision PlatformerLong shot49 devs · median $776 · 46 announced
  9. + Score AttackLong shot18 devs · median $599 · 21 announced
  10. + WarPoor odds8 devs · median $451k · 22 announced
  11. + Turn-Based TacticsPoor odds12 devs · median $88k · 21 announced
  12. + RomancePoor odds10 devs · median $35k · 16 announced

All 122 pairs on the Souls-like page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Nine Sols 2024 · $36M NEKOPARA Vol. 1 2014 · $7.0M NEKOPARA Vol. 3 2017 · $3.3M NEKOPARA Vol. 2 2016 · $3.3M NEKOPARA Vol. 0 2015 · $1.3M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Nine Sols older $29.99 40,138 94% 1.2M $36M (exactly $36,112,159) RedCandleGames
NEKOPARA Vol. 1 older $9.99 23,405 95% 702k $7.0M (exactly $7,014,478) NEKO WORKs
NEKOPARA Vol. 3 older $9.99 11,153 96% 335k $3.3M (exactly $3,342,554) NEKO WORKs
NEKOPARA Vol. 2 older $9.99 11,055 97% 332k $3.3M (exactly $3,313,184) NEKO WORKs
NEKOPARA Vol. 0 older $2.99 14,705 94% 441k $1.3M (exactly $1,319,038) NEKO WORKs
Kristala $39.99 485 71% 15k $582k (exactly $581,854) Astral Clocktower Studios
NEKOPARA Extra older $4.99 3,599 97% 108k $539k (exactly $538,770) NEKO WORKs
Miss Neko 3 older $2.99 4,470 92% 134k $401k (exactly $400,959) Double W
Living together with Fox Demon older $9.99 754 80% 23k $226k (exactly $225,974) Silent Fox, BananaKing
Cat Bait · EA older $4.99 1,446 96% 43k $216k (exactly $216,466) Mayni prod.
With Your Coworker $0.99 1,220 82% 37k $36k (exactly $36,234) 搖滾冰塊
CASSETTE BOY $12.99 68 70% 2.0k $27k (exactly $26,500) Wonderland Kazakiri inc.
Cat Gladiator $8.99 69 86% 2.1k $19k (exactly $18,609) Funleeks Studio
SwooshCat $4.99 46 86% 1.4k $6.9k (exactly $6,886) PixelForestStudio
Mochiko The Samurai $11.99 2 50% 60 $719 (exactly $719) FELICE INC
Tale of Dark Light $0.99 7 42% 210 $208 (exactly $208) PSP之魂
Escape Of The Cat-Aslyum $1.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) CodingQuests
Catfighter, In the Lands of Sinners $3.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) OreonCZ
Seema's Pogo 2 Top Of The World $2.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) Kazarma

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