Do I ship it?

GamesSurvivalSurvival + Creature Collector

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Creature Collector Survival game?

Survival + Creature Collector

Of 57 developers who shipped a Creature Collector Survival 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.. 104 more are announced, ×4.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $2.4k, ×3.8 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $540; 1 in 20 cleared $120k, ×198 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 104 games are announced against 26 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.8 times the market baseline, revenue flat on the market, 104 announced, ×4.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Survival + Creature Collector
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 57
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.5k → $716 → $2.4k → $1.5k → $5.4k → $2.9k → $900 (still earning) → $49k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Survival + Creature Collector: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 57
Bottom 30% $535 (exactly $535)
Median $2.4k (exactly $2,399)
Top 25% $22k (exactly $21,917)
Top 5% $124k (exactly $124,159)
Developers, 2 yr 57
Released games 132
Announced 104
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $7.99

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 15% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 7%, 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
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Creature Collector
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, Creature Collector; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration, Action
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Cute
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 94% positive over 415,133 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $540, median $2.4k, 1 in 4 over $21k, 1 in 20 over $120k.

3 in 10 developers made under $540. 7 in 10 of the 33 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 104 games are announced against 26 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.0 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Survival with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + FMVStrong odds14 devs · median $74k · 10 announced
  2. + Social DeductionFair31 devs · median $6.2k · 35 announced
  3. + Word GameFair22 devs · median $2.1k · 29 announced
  4. + CatsFair33 devs · median $1.2k · 34 announced
  5. + CollectathonFair77 devs · median $1.0k · 84 announced
  6. + IdlerFair96 devs · median $836 · 99 announced
  7. + Auto BattlerFair79 devs · median $807 · 90 announced
  8. + IncrementalFair101 devs · median $599 · 130 announced
  9. + DogsFair20 devs · median $535 · 19 announced
  10. + Martial ArtsLong shot19 devs · median $419 · 17 announced
  11. + Boomer ShooterLong shot39 devs · median $359 · 32 announced
  12. + DiplomacyPoor odds16 devs · median $100k · 28 announced

All 234 pairs on the Survival page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Palworld $29.99 411,947 94% 12M $371M (exactly $370,628,716) Pocketpair
Wicked Island · EA $34.99 1,194 76% 36k $1.3M (exactly $1,253,342) RawDarkness
Atrio: The Dark Wild older $19.99 563 78% 17k $338k (exactly $337,631) Isto Inc.
Creature Crafter older $7.99 745 86% 22k $179k (exactly $178,576) Daniel Lochner
XiuzhenWorld older $12.99 436 75% 13k $170k (exactly $169,909) Noforgetit
Start an egg · EA older $15.99 332 77% 10k $159k (exactly $159,260) Ting Game
Evolution Board Game older $14.99 348 81% 10k $156k (exactly $156,496) North Star Digital Studios
Honeycomb: The World Beyond $29.99 138 65% 4.1k $124k (exactly $124,159) Frozen Way
Space Accident VR $16.99 231 82% 6.9k $118k (exactly $117,741) VR-WRG
Border Town $14.99 253 77% 7.6k $114k (exactly $113,774) GoHoGames
Cultivation Magic World · EA $12.99 276 78% 8.3k $108k (exactly $107,557) DMG Studio
Shard Squad $6.99 512 82% 15k $107k (exactly $107,366) The Root Studios
汉尘:腐草为萤 · EA $7.99 305 71% 9.2k $73k (exactly $73,108) 兰廷科技 Lanting Technology Co., Ltd.
ArkCraft: The Rebirth of the World $10.99 181 71% 5.4k $60k (exactly $59,676) ZD Yazilim
Spirit Animal Survival $19.99 96 62% 2.9k $58k (exactly $57,571) TRUEFX GAMES

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