Do I ship it?

Games › Survival Horror › Survival Horror + Combat

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Combat Survival Horror?

Survival Horror + Combat

Of 250 developers who shipped a Combat 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.. 546 more are announced, ×3.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $900, ×1.4 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $240; 1 in 20 cleared $820k, ×1314 the market median. Revenue is up 115% on the market; 546 games are announced against 141 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.4 times the market baseline, revenue up 115% on the market, 546 announced, ×3.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Survival Horror + Combat
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 250
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $899 → $1.9k → $2.2k → $1.3k → $838 → $2.2k → $898 (still earning) → $839 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Survival Horror + Combat: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 250
Bottom 30% $239 (exactly $239)
Median $898 (exactly $898)
Top 25% $10k (exactly $10,485)
Top 5% $825k (exactly $825,187)
Developers, 2 yr 250
Released games 633
Announced 546
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $6.99

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 115% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 12%, 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
Combat
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 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, Combat; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Action-Adventure
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, First-Person, Dark
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 71% positive over 66,126 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $240, median $900, 1 in 4 over $10k, 1 in 20 over $820k.

3 in 10 developers made under $240. 8 in 10 of the 126 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 546 games are announced against 141 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.9 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

Dead Space 2023 · $113M SILENT HILL f 2025 · $40M Ghostwire: Tokyo 2022 · $23M World War Z 2021 · $22M Killing Floor 3 2025 · $20M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Dead Space older $59.99 62,997 90% 1.9M $113M (exactly $113,375,701) Motive
SILENT HILL f $69.99 19,061 80% 572k $40M (exactly $40,022,382) NeoBards Entertainment Ltd.
Ghostwire: Tokyo older $59.99 12,954 83% 389k $23M (exactly $23,313,314) Tango Gameworks
World War Z older $29.99 24,897 82% 747k $22M (exactly $22,399,831) Saber Interactive Inc
Killing Floor 3 $39.99 16,493 46% 495k $20M (exactly $19,786,652) Tripwire Interactive
Dead Space™ 2 older $19.99 25,897 94% 777k $16M (exactly $15,530,431) Visceral Games
Cronos: The New Dawn $59.99 7,753 87% 233k $14M (exactly $13,953,074) Bloober Team
Darkwood older $19.99 22,236 94% 667k $13M (exactly $13,334,929) Acid Wizard Studio
Bendy and the Dark Revival older $19.99 14,497 92% 435k $8.7M (exactly $8,693,851) Joey Drew Studios
Dead Space™ 3 older $19.99 12,238 72% 367k $7.3M (exactly $7,339,129) Visceral Games
HumanitZ $19.99 11,155 74% 335k $6.7M (exactly $6,689,653) Yodubzz Studios
Enigma of Fear $29.99 3,045 95% 91k $2.7M (exactly $2,739,586) Dumativa, Cellbit
The Sinking City 2 $49.99 1,410 83% 42k $2.1M (exactly $2,114,577) Frogwares
Slitterhead $49.99 1,145 78% 34k $1.7M (exactly $1,717,156) Bokeh Game Studio lnc.
Alien: Rogue Incursion VR $39.99 1,340 70% 40k $1.6M (exactly $1,607,598) Survios
Level Zero: Extraction $19.99 2,446 50% 73k $1.5M (exactly $1,466,866) Doghowl Games
Silly Polly Beast $19.99 2,278 90% 68k $1.4M (exactly $1,366,117) Anji

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