Games › Crafting › Crafting + Loot
Should I ship a Crafting Loot game?
Crafting + Loot
Of 197 developers who shipped a Crafting Loot 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.. 431 more are announced, ×3.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $6.0k, ×9.5 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.5k; 1 in 20 cleared $1.2M, ×1928 the market median. Revenue is up 20% on the market; 431 games are announced against 119 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.5k (exactly $1,485) |
|---|---|
| Median | $6.0k (exactly $5,994) |
| Top 25% | $37k (exactly $37,154) |
| Top 5% | $1.2M (exactly $1,210,592) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 197 |
| Released games | 428 |
| Announced | 431 |
| Effort | 5 / 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 20% on the market, supply 55% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 15%, 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
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Crafting, Loot; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, RPG, Exploration
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 77% positive over 233,624 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.5k. 7 in 10 of the 89 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 431 games are announced against 119 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.6 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Crafting with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Job SimulatorStrong odds
- + SportsFair
- + Turn-BasedFair
- + IdlerFair
- + SolitaireFair
- + LovecraftianPoor odds
- + MMORPGPoor odds
- + LGBTQ+Poor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + WesternPoor odds
- + Bullet HeavenPoor odds
- + TrainsPoor odds
Comparable games
Path of Exile 2 2024 · EA · $151M 
Grim Dawn 2016 · $70M 
Titan Quest II 2025 · EA · $18M 
DYSMANTLE 2021 · $6.6M 
Farever 2026 · EA · $5.4M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Path of Exile 2 | · EA | $29.99 | 167,730 76% | 5.0M | $151M (exactly $150,906,681) | Grinding Gear Games |
| | Grim Dawn | older | $24.99 | 92,979 93% | 2.8M | $70M (exactly $69,706,356) | Crate Entertainment |
| | Titan Quest II | · EA | $34.99 | 17,398 81% | 522k | $18M (exactly $18,262,681) | Grimlore Games |
| | DYSMANTLE | older | $19.99 | 11,022 91% | 331k | $6.6M (exactly $6,609,893) | 10tons Ltd |
| | Farever | · EA | $19.99 | 8,968 75% | 269k | $5.4M (exactly $5,378,110) | Shiro Games |
 | Chronicon | older | $13.99 | 8,822 94% | 265k | $3.7M (exactly $3,702,593) | Subworld |
 | A Game About Digging A Hole™ | $4.99 | 18,785 89% | 564k | $2.8M (exactly $2,812,114) | DoubleBee | |
 | Star Valor | older | $24.99 | 3,272 88% | 98k | $2.5M (exactly $2,453,018) | Rafael Burgos |
 | SpiritVale | · EA | $14.99 | 4,755 48% | 143k | $2.1M (exactly $2,138,324) | Baikun Interactive |
 | Wild Terra 2: New Lands | older | $39.99 | 1,379 62% | 41k | $1.7M (exactly $1,654,386) | Juvty Worlds |
 | Tinkerlands | · EA | $12.99 | 3,624 85% | 109k | $1.4M (exactly $1,412,273) | CodeManu, Endless Coffee |
 | Burglin' Gnomes | $9.99 | 4,635 83% | 139k | $1.4M (exactly $1,389,110) | Fobri | |
 | Salt 2: Shores of Gold | $19.99 | 2,182 85% | 65k | $1.3M (exactly $1,308,545) | Lavaboots Studios | |
 | Deadly Days: Roadtrip | · EA | $14.99 | 2,855 87% | 86k | $1.3M (exactly $1,283,894) | Pixelsplit |
 | DUCKSIDE | · EA | $14.99 | 2,692 72% | 81k | $1.2M (exactly $1,210,592) | tinyBuild Riga |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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