Games › Souls-like › Souls-like + Choices Matter
Should I ship a Choices Matter Souls-like?
Souls-like + Choices Matter
Of 47 developers who shipped a Choices Matter Souls-like 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.. 128 more are announced, ×5.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $12k, ×7.9 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $720; 1 in 20 cleared $850k, ×570 the market median. Revenue is down 80% on the market; 128 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $719 (exactly $719) |
|---|---|
| Median | $12k (exactly $11,870) |
| Top 25% | $92k (exactly $92,008) |
| Top 5% | $854k (exactly $854,145) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 47 |
| Released games | 143 |
| Announced | 128 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| 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 down 80% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 9%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Choices Matter
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Souls-like, Choices Matter; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Action RPG, Adventure
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Atmospheric, Story Rich
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 84% positive over 36,980 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $720. 6 in 10 of the 24 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 128 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Souls-like with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Dating SimStrong odds
- + Visual NovelFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + JRPGFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + PsychologicalFair
- + Walking SimulatorFair
- + Precision PlatformerLong shot
- + Score AttackLong shot
- + WarPoor odds
- + Turn-Based TacticsPoor odds
- + RomancePoor odds
Comparable games
Lies of P 2023 · $105M 
Vampyr 2018 · $24M 
GreedFall 2019 · $19M 
Avowed 2025 · $19M 
Xuan-Yuan Sword VII 2020 · $8.9M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Lies of P | older | $59.99 | 58,411 91% | 1.8M | $105M (exactly $105,122,277) | NEOWIZ |
| | Vampyr | older | $39.99 | 20,081 77% | 602k | $24M (exactly $24,091,176) | DONTNOD Entertainment |
| | GreedFall | older | $34.99 | 18,460 75% | 554k | $19M (exactly $19,377,462) | Spiders |
| | Avowed | $49.99 | 12,653 76% | 380k | $19M (exactly $18,975,704) | Obsidian Entertainment | |
| | Xuan-Yuan Sword VII | older | $34.99 | 8,490 62% | 255k | $8.9M (exactly $8,911,953) | SOFTSTAR, DOMO Studio |
 | Drova - Forsaken Kin | $24.99 | 9,455 93% | 284k | $7.1M (exactly $7,088,414) | Just2D | |
 | YOU and ME and HER: A Love Story | older | $29.99 | 6,033 95% | 181k | $5.4M (exactly $5,427,890) | Nitroplus |
 | Afterimage | older | $24.99 | 6,929 79% | 208k | $5.2M (exactly $5,194,671) | Aurogon Shanghai |
 | Carnal Instinct | · EA older | $29.99 | 5,407 82% | 162k | $4.9M (exactly $4,864,678) | Team Carnal Instinct |
 | Anomaly Agent | older | $11.99 | 9,463 94% | 284k | $3.4M (exactly $3,403,841) | Phew Phew Games |
 | Dwarven Realms | $9.99 | 2,850 81% | 86k | $854k (exactly $854,145) | Crater Studios | |
 | YAR: Forgotten Throne | $19.99 | 1,283 89% | 38k | $769k (exactly $769,415) | Honor Games | |
 | The Dark Queen of Mortholme | $4.99 | 4,075 83% | 122k | $610k (exactly $610,028) | Mosu | |
 | Fever Meme | $4.20 | 4,358 91% | 131k | $549k (exactly $549,108) | Aimbok | |
 | The Married Woman Nextdoor - Creampie SEX Beside Her Husband | $9.99 | 933 86% | 28k | $280k (exactly $279,620) | AibanWork | |
 | FOUNTAINS | $14.99 | 423 84% | 13k | $190k (exactly $190,223) | John Pywell | |
 | Exposed Livestream | $9.99 | 520 81% | 16k | $156k (exactly $155,844) | Kumada Gaon | |
 | ZENONIA 1 | $9.99 | 430 80% | 13k | $129k (exactly $128,871) | Com2us Holdings, CFK Co., Ltd. |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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