Do I ship it?

Games › Survival Horror › Survival Horror + Crime

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Crime Survival Horror?

Survival Horror + Crime

Of 49 developers who shipped a Crime 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.. 55 more are announced, ×2.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $1.6k, ×2.5 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $110k, ×186 the market median. Revenue is down 20% on the market; 55 games are announced against 27 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.5 times the market baseline, revenue down 20% on the market, 55 announced, ×2.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Survival Horror + Crime
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 49
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.2k → $5.1k → $3.4k → $1.6k → $2.7k (still earning) → $1.3k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Survival Horror + Crime: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 49
Bottom 30% $360 (exactly $360)
Median $1.6k (exactly $1,559)
Top 25% $7.2k (exactly $7,164)
Top 5% $117k (exactly $116,583)
Developers, 2 yr 49
Released games 100
Announced 55
Effort 6 / 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 down 20% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 8%, 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
Crime
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 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; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration, Action
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
Art
7 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, Atmospheric, Story Rich
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 89% positive over 2,986 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $360, median $1.6k, 1 in 4 over $7.1k, 1 in 20 over $110k.

3 in 10 developers made under $360. 8 in 10 of the 23 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 55 games are announced against 27 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.0 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Survival Horror with a different setting or mood, 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

Butcher's Creek 2025 · $461k Supernatural 2024 · $318k Bloodwash 2021 · $291k Supernormal 2024 · $268k BrokenLore: UNFOLLOW 2026 · $148k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Butcher's Creek $9.99 1,539 94% 46k $461k (exactly $461,238) David Szymanski
Supernatural older $8.99 1,180 63% 35k $318k (exactly $318,246) Hitori De Productions
Bloodwash older $7.99 1,215 92% 36k $291k (exactly $291,236) Black Eyed Priest, Henry Hoare
Supernormal older $7.99 1,117 72% 34k $268k (exactly $267,745) Hitori de Productions
BrokenLore: UNFOLLOW $19.99 247 73% 7.4k $148k (exactly $148,126) Serafini Productions
Midnight Heist $9.99 389 92% 12k $117k (exactly $116,583) MediaTale
[Chilla's Art] The Karaoke | ヒトカラ🎤 older $5.99 646 82% 19k $116k (exactly $116,086) Chilla's Art
Doorways: Prelude older $9.99 351 58% 11k $105k (exactly $105,195) Saibot Studios
Psych older $9.99 318 79% 9.5k $95k (exactly $95,305) MediaTale
[HERROR] Gas Station Case $5.99 281 96% 8.4k $50k (exactly $50,496) [HERROR]
Paradise: Musubi $14.99 73 98% 2.2k $33k (exactly $32,828) PIL/SLASH
Escape From Crimson Manor: Trapped Together $12.99 78 69% 2.3k $30k (exactly $30,397) MediaCity Games
Find or be Found $7.99 117 69% 3.5k $28k (exactly $28,045) Studio Downstairs
CASE RECORDS: Fear of Abduction $9.99 87 67% 2.6k $26k (exactly $26,074) Walnut LLC
SLACKJAW $4.99 153 81% 4.6k $23k (exactly $22,904) Nostromo Interactive
Oxide Room 208 $29.99 22 31% 660 $20k (exactly $19,793) WildSphere

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