Games › CRPG › CRPG + Procedural Generation
Should I ship a Procedural Generation CRPG?
CRPG + Procedural Generation
Of 25 developers who shipped a Procedural Generation 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.. 48 more are announced, ×3.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.0k, ×1.3 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.2k; 1 in 20 cleared $110k, ×76 the market median. Revenue is down 75% on the market; 48 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.2k (exactly $1,199) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.0k (exactly $1,998) |
| Top 25% | $18k (exactly $18,350) |
| Top 5% | $114k (exactly $113,774) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 25 |
| Released games | 85 |
| Announced | 48 |
| 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 75% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 11%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Procedural Generation
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- CRPG, Procedural Generation; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Character Customization, Adventure
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, Story Rich, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 93% positive over 12,701 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.2k. 8 in 10 of the 15 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 48 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.4 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
CRPG with a different second tag, 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
Darkest Dungeon® II 2023 · $29M 
Caves of Qud 2024 · $11M 
Dungeon Alchemist 2022 · EA · $3.6M 
ADOM (Ancient Domains Of Mystery) 2015 · $563k 
StarCrawlers 2017 · $476k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Darkest Dungeon® II | older | $39.99 | 24,249 74% | 727k | $29M (exactly $29,091,525) | Red Hook Studios |
| | Caves of Qud | $29.99 | 11,892 94% | 357k | $11M (exactly $10,699,232) | Freehold Games | |
| | Dungeon Alchemist | · EA older | $44.99 | 2,666 94% | 80k | $3.6M (exactly $3,598,300) | Briganti |
| | ADOM (Ancient Domains Of Mystery) | older | $14.99 | 1,253 86% | 38k | $563k (exactly $563,474) | Thomas Biskup, Jochen Terstiege, Zeno R… (Thomas Biskup, Jochen Terstiege, Zeno Rogue, Krzysztof Dycha, Lucas Dieguez) |
| | StarCrawlers | older | $19.99 | 793 82% | 24k | $476k (exactly $475,562) | Juggernaut Games |
 | The Doors of Trithius | · EA older | $14.99 | 973 93% | 29k | $438k (exactly $437,558) | Jake Donkersgoed |
 | Archmage Rises | · EA older | $14.99 | 392 68% | 12k | $176k (exactly $176,282) | Defiance Game Studio |
 | Unexplored 2: The Wayfarer's Legacy | older | $19.99 | 269 75% | 8.1k | $161k (exactly $161,319) | Ludomotion |
 | Raiders! Forsaken Earth | older | $19.99 | 268 80% | 8.0k | $161k (exactly $160,720) | Creative Storm Entertainment |
 | Dungeon Dreams 2 | older | $19.99 | 209 90% | 6.3k | $125k (exactly $125,337) | DDreams Games |
 | Border Town | $14.99 | 253 77% | 7.6k | $114k (exactly $113,774) | GoHoGames | |
 | Saga & Seeker | $9.99 | 178 57% | 5.3k | $53k (exactly $53,347) | Dagdoria Studio | |
 | Cyclopean: The Great Abyss | $9.99 | 163 89% | 4.9k | $49k (exactly $48,851) | Schmidt Workshops | |
 | Dragonero | $19.99 | 38 68% | 1.1k | $23k (exactly $22,789) | Operaludica | |
 | DarkStone Restoration | · EA | $10.99 | 63 96% | 1.9k | $21k (exactly $20,771) | Paul Cuisset |
 | Tales from The Dancing Moon | $17.99 | 34 88% | 1.0k | $18k (exactly $18,350) | DjMonkey | |
 | Gloamvault | $9.99 | 36 91% | 1.1k | $11k (exactly $10,789) | Grave Hammer Games | |
 | A Tale of Silent Depths | $9.99 | 21 80% | 630 | $6.3k (exactly $6,294) | Crit42 Studio | |
 | RolemIAster | · EA | $5.99 | 23 56% | 690 | $4.1k (exactly $4,133) | ABAFE |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.