Games › Combat › Combat + Perma Death
Should I ship a Combat Perma Death game?
Combat + Perma Death
Of 229 developers who shipped a Combat Perma Death 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.. 422 more are announced, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $540, ×0.9 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $36k, ×58 the market median. Revenue is up 55% on the market; 422 games are announced against 134 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $150 (exactly $150) |
|---|---|
| Median | $538 (exactly $538) |
| Top 25% | $3.1k (exactly $3,116) |
| Top 5% | $37k (exactly $36,632) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 229 |
| Released games | 573 |
| Announced | 422 |
| Effort | 5 / 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 up 55% on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Combat
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Perma Death
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Combat, Perma Death; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Roguelike, Roguelite
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 89% positive over 5,644 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 108 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 422 games are announced against 134 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Combat with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Real-Time with PauseStrong odds
- + 4XFair
- + TypingFair
- + VampiresFair
- + SnowFair
- + Walking SimulatorFair
- + Match 3Long shot
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + Political SimPoor odds
- + Extraction ShooterPoor odds
- + Dating SimPoor odds
- + LGBTQ+Poor odds
Comparable games
Marauders 2022 · EA · $12M 
Day of Dragons 2019 · EA · $3.8M 
Blackthorn Arena 2020 · $2.6M 
Atomicrops 2020 · $2.3M 
Vagante 2018 · $1.9M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Marauders | · EA older | $29.99 | 13,505 68% | 405k | $12M (exactly $12,150,448) | Small Impact Games |
| | Day of Dragons | · EA older | $19.99 | 6,278 68% | 188k | $3.8M (exactly $3,764,917) | Beawesome Games |
| | Blackthorn Arena | older | $24.99 | 3,477 69% | 104k | $2.6M (exactly $2,606,707) | PersonaeGame Studio |
| | Atomicrops | older | $14.99 | 5,134 93% | 154k | $2.3M (exactly $2,308,760) | Bird Bath Games |
| | Vagante | older | $14.99 | 4,118 90% | 124k | $1.9M (exactly $1,851,865) | Nuke Nine |
 | 轮回修仙路 | older | $16.99 | 2,945 82% | 88k | $1.5M (exactly $1,501,066) | 烟水寒工作室 |
 | Soulash 2 | · EA older | $18.99 | 2,382 85% | 71k | $1.4M (exactly $1,357,025) | Artur Smiarowski |
 | Fury Unleashed | older | $19.99 | 2,010 86% | 60k | $1.2M (exactly $1,205,397) | Awesome Games Studio |
 | ELDERBORN | older | $14.99 | 2,229 87% | 67k | $1.0M (exactly $1,002,381) | Hyperstrange |
 | Cluckmech Oasis | older | $9.99 | 3,077 87% | 92k | $922k (exactly $922,177) | BlackLight |
 | Pronoun Palace | $19.84 | 1,249 99% | 37k | $743k (exactly $743,405) | Cadence Petersen, Hazel Fackler | |
 | CRUEL | $9.99 | 1,814 95% | 54k | $544k (exactly $543,656) | James Dornan | |
 | Netherworld Covenant | $19.99 | 597 78% | 18k | $358k (exactly $358,021) | MadGoat Game Studio | |
 | Soulslinger: Envoy of Death | $19.99 | 472 63% | 14k | $283k (exactly $283,058) | Elder Games | |
 | Rogue Blight | $12.99 | 318 91% | 9.5k | $124k (exactly $123,925) | CodeRadGames | |
 | Mage and Monsters II | $8.99 | 372 82% | 11k | $100k (exactly $100,328) | Lasse Zacho Malver | |
 | Dark PGT | $4.99 | 404 83% | 12k | $60k (exactly $60,479) | ZERO5GAMES | |
 | Sculplings | $10.99 | 179 99% | 5.4k | $59k (exactly $59,016) | Conor Garity, Liam Kerrigan | |
 | Cryptical Path | $14.99 | 130 86% | 3.9k | $58k (exactly $58,461) | Old Skull Games | |
 | Slimekeep | $14.99 | 109 87% | 3.3k | $49k (exactly $49,017) | BenBonk |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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