Do I ship it?

Games › Survival Horror › Survival Horror + Choices Matter

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Choices Matter Survival Horror?

Survival Horror + Choices Matter

Of 170 developers who shipped a Choices Matter 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.. 334 more are announced, ×3.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.9k, ×3.1 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $1.0M, ×1723 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 334 games are announced against 89 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.1 times the market baseline, revenue flat on the market, 334 announced, ×3.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Survival Horror + Choices Matter
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 170
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $5.5k → $6.8k → $1.9k → $1.9k → $4.3k → $2.2k → $1.6k (still earning) → $359 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Survival Horror + Choices Matter: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 170
Bottom 30% $359 (exactly $359)
Median $1.9k (exactly $1,946)
Top 25% $19k (exactly $18,591)
Top 5% $1.1M (exactly $1,082,339)
Developers, 2 yr 170
Released games 452
Announced 334
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
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 flat on the market, supply 10% 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 medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Survival Horror
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Choices Matter
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium 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, Choices Matter; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Multiple Endings, Action
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, Story Rich, First-Person
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 87% positive over 90,500 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $360, median $1.9k, 1 in 4 over $18k, 1 in 20 over $1.0M.

3 in 10 developers made under $360. 8 in 10 of the 97 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 334 games are announced against 89 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.8 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

Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon 2025 · $45M The Quarry 2022 · $29M Sultan's Game 2025 · $19M Darkwood 2017 · $13M Pathologic 2 2019 · $10M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon $44.99 33,560 87% 1.0M $45M (exactly $45,295,932) Questline
The Quarry older $59.99 16,127 83% 484k $29M (exactly $29,023,762) Supermassive Games
Sultan's Game $24.99 25,061 93% 752k $19M (exactly $18,788,232) Double Cross
Darkwood older $19.99 22,236 94% 667k $13M (exactly $13,334,929) Acid Wizard Studio
Pathologic 2 older $34.99 9,554 92% 287k $10M (exactly $10,028,834) Ice-Pick Lodge
Choo-Choo Charles older $19.99 16,292 91% 489k $9.8M (exactly $9,770,312) Two Star Games
Atomfall $49.99 4,526 76% 136k $6.8M (exactly $6,787,642) Rebellion
Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days · EA $24.99 9,049 89% 271k $6.8M (exactly $6,784,035) PikPok
The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes older $29.99 7,360 89% 221k $6.6M (exactly $6,621,792) Supermassive Games
Call of Cthulhu® older $19.99 10,962 79% 329k $6.6M (exactly $6,573,911) Cyanide Studio
Shift At Midnight $9.99 10,147 88% 304k $3.0M (exactly $3,041,056) Bun Muen
Pathologic 3 $34.99 2,528 80% 76k $2.7M (exactly $2,653,642) Ice-Pick Lodge
Directive 8020 $49.99 1,337 63% 40k $2.0M (exactly $2,005,099) Supermassive Games
Zoochosis $24.99 2,200 60% 66k $1.6M (exactly $1,649,340) Clapperheads
The Thing: Remastered $29.99 1,203 89% 36k $1.1M (exactly $1,082,339) Nightdive Studios, Computer Artworks
A.I.L.A $29.99 889 81% 27k $800k (exactly $799,833) Pulsatrix Studios

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