Do I ship it?

GamesCRPGCRPG + Post-apocalyptic

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Post-apocalyptic CRPG?

CRPG + Post-apocalyptic

Only 17 developers shipped a Post-apocalyptic CRPG in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Stellar Tactics, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 61 more are announced, ×5.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $6.3k, ×4.2 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $2.1k; 1 in 20 cleared $1.2M, ×834 the market median. Revenue is down 85% on the market; 61 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 4.2 times the market baseline, revenue down 85% on the market, 61 announced, ×5.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
CRPG + Post-apocalyptic
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 17
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.2k → $2.5k → $2.4k → $22k → $3.6k (still earning) → $629 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for CRPG + Post-apocalyptic: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 17
Bottom 30% $2.1k (exactly $2,100)
Median $6.3k (exactly $6,294)
Top 25% $22k (exactly $22,485)
Top 5% $1.2M (exactly $1,249,000)
Developers, 2 yr 17
Released games 88
Announced 61
Effort 7 / 10
AI-buildability Low
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 down 85% on the market, supply 85% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 9%, 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 low: the lowest rating among its tags.

CRPG
effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
Post-apocalyptic
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
Systems
CRPG; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Adventure, Tactical RPG
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 79% positive over 2,698 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $2.1k, median $6.3k, 1 in 4 over $22k, 1 in 20 over $1.2M.

3 in 10 developers made under $2.1k. 9 in 10 of the 8 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 61 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.5 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

CRPG with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Martial ArtsFair13 devs · median $26k · 14 announced
  2. + Female ProtagonistFair84 devs · median $2.4k · 95 announced
  3. + TabletopFair22 devs · median $1.9k · 26 announced
  4. + Traditional RoguelikeFair12 devs · median $1.9k · 13 announced
  5. + 2D PlatformerFair62 devs · median $1.2k · 76 announced
  6. + IncrementalLong shot32 devs · median $449 · 27 announced
  7. + FMVPoor odds16 devs · median $58k · 14 announced
  8. + Card BattlerPoor odds15 devs · median $25k · 28 announced
  9. + Grid-Based MovementPoor odds26 devs · median $23k · 46 announced
  10. + SpacePoor odds11 devs · median $22k · 23 announced
  11. + Online Co-OpPoor odds13 devs · median $22k · 23 announced
  12. + Souls-likePoor odds12 devs · median $20k · 24 announced

All 123 pairs on the CRPG page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Wasteland 3 older $39.99 17,263 84% 518k $21M (exactly $20,710,421) inXile Entertainment
Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game older $9.99 16,722 95% 502k $5.0M (exactly $5,011,583) Interplay Inc.
ATOM RPG: Post-apocalyptic indie game older $14.99 9,991 84% 300k $4.5M (exactly $4,492,953) AtomTeam
Wasteland 2: Director's Cut older $29.99 4,664 82% 140k $4.2M (exactly $4,196,201) inXile Entertainment
Fallout 2: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game older $9.99 13,868 93% 416k $4.2M (exactly $4,156,240) Black Isle Studios
Encased: A Sci-Fi Post-Apocalyptic RPG older $29.99 4,193 77% 126k $3.8M (exactly $3,772,442) Dark Crystal Games
UnderRail older $14.99 6,385 86% 192k $2.9M (exactly $2,871,334) Stygian Software
Death Trash · EA older $19.99 3,460 91% 104k $2.1M (exactly $2,074,962) Crafting Legends
Vagrus - The Riven Realms older $29.99 1,746 84% 52k $1.6M (exactly $1,570,876) Lost Pilgrims Studio
ATOM RPG Trudograd older $10.99 3,976 83% 119k $1.3M (exactly $1,310,887) AtomTeam
Stellar Tactics $24.99 1,666 77% 50k $1.2M (exactly $1,249,000) Don Wilkins
Entropy · EA $11.99 293 94% 8.8k $105k (exactly $105,392) Lovely Hellplace
Time Space Rebuild $4.99 377 76% 11k $56k (exactly $56,437) INNOVATION DREAM
Voice of Belldona · EA $11.99 117 72% 3.5k $42k (exactly $42,085) StoryCropStudio
Songs of Rats $14.99 50 78% 1.5k $22k (exactly $22,485) Tesseract Games
Rust of Steel $10.99 67 65% 2.0k $22k (exactly $22,090) Fortress13 Game Studio
RECORD_DrowsyVortex $9.99 54 100% 1.6k $16k (exactly $16,184) LunarHillz
Prometheus Wept · EA $15.99 14 92% 420 $6.7k (exactly $6,716) Timeslip Softworks
A Tale of Silent Depths $9.99 21 80% 630 $6.3k (exactly $6,294) Crit42 Studio
Day Zero · EA $4.99 39 79% 1.2k $5.8k (exactly $5,838) Imdie Studios

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