Games › Hunting › Hunting + Crafting
Should I ship a Crafting Hunting game?
Hunting + Crafting
Of 50 developers who shipped a Crafting Hunting 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.. 116 more are announced, ×4.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $4.8k, ×7.6 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.5k; 1 in 20 cleared $3.6M, ×5762 the market median. Revenue is up 420% on the market; 116 games are announced against 26 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.5k (exactly $1,468) |
|---|---|
| Median | $4.8k (exactly $4,795) |
| Top 25% | $92k (exactly $91,730) |
| Top 5% | $3.6M (exactly $3,618,278) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 50 |
| Released games | 154 |
| Announced | 116 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| 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 up 420% on the market, supply 10% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 9%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Hunting, Crafting; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Survival, Open World, Adventure
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $22.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $22.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 72% positive over 137,948 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.5k. 6 in 10 of the 27 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 116 games are announced against 26 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Hunting with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Post-apocalypticPoor odds
- + Base BuildingPoor odds
- + Co-opPoor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
- + AgriculturePoor odds
- + SandboxPoor odds
- + MagicPoor odds
- + SimulationPoor odds
- + BuildingPoor odds
- + RoguelikePoor odds
- + RoguelitePoor odds
Comparable games
SCUM 2025 · $133M 
Far Cry 3 2012 · $74M 
Far Cry® 4 2014 · $62M 
Far Cry® Primal 2016 · $35M 
WILD HEARTS™ 2023 · $22M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | SCUM | $44.99 | 98,554 74% | 3.0M | $133M (exactly $133,018,334) | Gamepires | |
| | Far Cry 3 | older | $19.99 | 122,691 87% | 3.7M | $74M (exactly $73,577,793) | Ubisoft Montreal, Massive Entertainment… (Ubisoft Montreal, Massive Entertainment, and Ubisoft Shanghai) |
| | Far Cry® 4 | older | $29.99 | 68,485 84% | 2.1M | $62M (exactly $61,615,954) | Ubisoft Montreal, Red Storm, Shanghai,… (Ubisoft Montreal, Red Storm, Shanghai, Toronto, Kiev) |
| | Far Cry® Primal | older | $29.99 | 38,798 86% | 1.2M | $35M (exactly $34,906,561) | Ubisoft |
| | WILD HEARTS™ | older | $69.99 | 10,626 48% | 319k | $22M (exactly $22,311,412) | KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. |
 | Soulmask | $29.99 | 18,445 76% | 553k | $17M (exactly $16,594,966) | CampFire Studio | |
 | Stranded: Alien Dawn | older | $34.99 | 9,715 84% | 291k | $10M (exactly $10,197,836) | Haemimont Games |
 | Night of the Dead | older | $29.99 | 10,380 77% | 311k | $9.3M (exactly $9,338,886) | Jackto Studios |
 | DYSMANTLE | older | $19.99 | 11,022 91% | 331k | $6.6M (exactly $6,609,893) | 10tons Ltd |
 | The Survivalists | older | $24.99 | 8,116 76% | 243k | $6.1M (exactly $6,084,565) | Team17 |
 | The Quinfall | $9.99 | 12,073 50% | 362k | $3.6M (exactly $3,618,278) | Vawraek Technology Inc. | |
 | Survivalist: Invisible Strain | $11.99 | 4,014 87% | 120k | $1.4M (exactly $1,443,836) | Bob | |
 | Card Survival: Fantasy Forest | · EA | $21.99 | 1,135 76% | 34k | $749k (exactly $748,760) | WinterSpring Games |
 | Alaska Gold Fever | $16.99 | 959 79% | 29k | $489k (exactly $488,802) | Baked Games | |
 | Deathground | · EA | $14.99 | 877 61% | 26k | $394k (exactly $394,387) | Jaw Drop Games |
 | Winter Survival | $18.99 | 595 62% | 18k | $339k (exactly $338,972) | DRAGO entertainment | |
 | DYSPLACED | · EA | $24.99 | 296 87% | 8.9k | $222k (exactly $221,911) | 10tons Ltd |
 | Another Try 2 | · EA | $6.99 | 1,000 53% | 30k | $210k (exactly $209,700) | Hoki Wolf Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.