Should I ship a Horror CRPG?
CRPG + Horror
Of 42 developers who shipped a Horror CRPG 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.. 60 more are announced, ×4.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.4k, level with the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $480; 1 in 20 cleared $110k, ×79 the market median. Revenue is up 360% on the market; 60 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $479 (exactly $479) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.4k (exactly $1,435) |
| Top 25% | $5.8k (exactly $5,838) |
| Top 5% | $118k (exactly $117,703) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 42 |
| Released games | 121 |
| Announced | 60 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $5.99 |
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 360% on the market, supply 45% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 7%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- CRPG; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Adventure, Dungeon Crawler
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, 2D, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 90% positive over 2,397 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $480. 9 in 10 of the 29 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 60 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.0 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
CRPG with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Martial ArtsFair
- + Female ProtagonistFair
- + TabletopFair
- + Traditional RoguelikeFair
- + 2D PlatformerFair
- + IncrementalLong shot
- + FMVPoor odds
- + Card BattlerPoor odds
- + Grid-Based MovementPoor odds
- + SpacePoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
- + Souls-likePoor odds
Comparable games
Slay the Princess — The Pristine Cut 2023 · $17M 
Fear & Hunger 2: Termina 2022 · $5.1M 
SKALD: Against the Black Priory 2024 · $1.5M 
Stygian: Reign of the Old Ones 2019 · $1.1M 
Pocket Mirror ~ GoldenerTraum 2023 · $944k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Slay the Princess — The Pristine Cut | older | $17.99 | 31,885 96% | 957k | $17M (exactly $17,208,334) | Black Tabby Games |
| | Fear & Hunger 2: Termina | older | $11.99 | 14,232 97% | 427k | $5.1M (exactly $5,119,250) | Miro Haverinen |
| | SKALD: Against the Black Priory | older | $14.99 | 3,325 93% | 100k | $1.5M (exactly $1,495,252) | High North Studios AS |
| | Stygian: Reign of the Old Ones | older | $19.99 | 1,804 66% | 54k | $1.1M (exactly $1,081,859) | Cultic Games |
| | Pocket Mirror ~ GoldenerTraum | older | $19.99 | 1,574 92% | 47k | $944k (exactly $943,928) | AstralShift, VisuStella |
 | ghostpia Season One | older | $19.99 | 871 92% | 26k | $522k (exactly $522,339) | Chosuido, 超水道 |
 | Mary Skelter: Nightmares | older | $24.99 | 541 82% | 16k | $406k (exactly $405,588) | Idea Factory |
 | 消失的航班，还有她她她！Lost in the secret! | $19.99 | 602 89% | 18k | $361k (exactly $361,019) | Humongous Pictures | |
 | Lakeview Valley | older | $14.99 | 710 82% | 21k | $319k (exactly $319,287) | Roope Tamminen |
 | Shards of Order | $9.99 | 578 90% | 17k | $173k (exactly $173,227) | Fardust | |
 | Tower of Mask | $10.99 | 357 95% | 11k | $118k (exactly $117,703) | Papertip Studio | |
 | Entropy | · EA | $11.99 | 293 94% | 8.8k | $105k (exactly $105,392) | Lovely Hellplace |
 | Brave × Junction | $10.99 | 62 83% | 1.9k | $20k (exactly $20,441) | Rideon,Inc., RideonJapan | |
 | RAVENSBURG | $14.99 | 45 95% | 1.4k | $20k (exactly $20,236) | Lilian Duleroux | |
 | Subway Exorcist Girl | $1.99 | 306 82% | 9.2k | $18k (exactly $18,268) | 纤指游戏 | |
 | 禁地直播 | $4.99 | 109 88% | 3.3k | $16k (exactly $16,317) | Say Hi Hi | |
 | 猩红梦魇 The Nightmare of Scarlet Tempest | $9.99 | 29 96% | 870 | $8.7k (exactly $8,691) | 拉莱椰可可 | |
 | Minerva Labyrinth | $14.99 | 16 100% | 480 | $7.2k (exactly $7,195) | Midnight Spire Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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