Games › Destruction › Destruction + Dark Fantasy
Should I ship a Dark-Fantasy Destruction game?
Destruction + Dark Fantasy
Of 21 developers who shipped a Dark-Fantasy Destruction 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.. 62 more are announced, ×5.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $960, ×1.5 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $90; 1 in 20 cleared $290k, ×471 the market median. Revenue is down 35% on the market; 62 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $90 (exactly $90) |
|---|---|
| Median | $958 (exactly $958) |
| Top 25% | $12k (exactly $11,953) |
| Top 5% | $296k (exactly $295,652) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 21 |
| Released games | 76 |
| Announced | 62 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $8.99 |
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 35% on the market, supply 35% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 18%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Destruction
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Dark Fantasy
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Destruction; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Hack and Slash
- Price point
- $8.99 typical · top 25% priced $34.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Atmospheric, Gore
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $34.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.
The top 10 games average 85% positive over 6,730 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $90. 9 in 10 of the 10 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 62 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Destruction with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Space SimFair
- + ModernFair
- + God GameFair
- + Hidden ObjectFair
- + Hack and SlashPoor odds
- + HistoricalPoor odds
- + CapitalismPoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
- + Co-opPoor odds
- + Automobile SimPoor odds
- + ManagementPoor odds
- + AutomationPoor odds
Comparable games
Diablo II: Resurrected – Infernal Edition 2026 · $7.0M 
Shadow Warrior 3: Definitive Edition 2022 · $5.8M 
Shadows of Forbidden Gods 2023 · $627k 
我在地球修仙有系统 2023 · $431k 
Warhammer 40,000: Speed Freeks 2025 · $296k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Diablo II: Resurrected – Infernal Edition | $39.99 | 5,855 86% | 176k | $7.0M (exactly $7,024,244) | Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. | |
| | Shadow Warrior 3: Definitive Edition | older | $39.99 | 4,820 69% | 145k | $5.8M (exactly $5,782,554) | Flying Wild Hog |
| | Shadows of Forbidden Gods | older | $19.99 | 1,046 91% | 31k | $627k (exactly $627,286) | Bobby Two Hands |
| | 我在地球修仙有系统 | older | $14.99 | 959 70% | 29k | $431k (exactly $431,262) | 红星 |
| | Warhammer 40,000: Speed Freeks | $19.99 | 493 85% | 15k | $296k (exactly $295,652) | Caged Element | |
 | Soulash | older | $14.99 | 513 69% | 15k | $231k (exactly $230,696) | Artur Smiarowski |
 | Inner Chains | older | $19.99 | 355 48% | 11k | $213k (exactly $212,893) | Telepaths Tree |
 | Wartorn | $34.99 | 130 73% | 3.9k | $136k (exactly $136,461) | Stray Kite Studios | |
 | Munch | $16.66 | 96 60% | 2.9k | $48k (exactly $47,981) | Mac n Cheese Games | |
 | Sera's Adventure -Cave of Destruction- | $18.99 | 76 53% | 2.3k | $43k (exactly $43,297) | 渡里laboratory | |
 | Lichgate: Tower Survivor | $6.99 | 57 75% | 1.7k | $12k (exactly $11,953) | Sun Lion Games | |
 | Ravager - Moon-Friendly Edition | · EA | $19.99 | 4 100% | 120 | $2.4k (exactly $2,399) | 4MinuteWarning |
 | Bat Blast! | $7.99 | 10 100% | 300 | $2.4k (exactly $2,397) | Cyan Sundae | |
 | Samsara | $9.99 | 6 50% | 180 | $1.8k (exactly $1,798) | Narriflux | |
 | Voldark | $11.99 | 3 0% | 90 | $1.1k (exactly $1,079) | OzbalHan |
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.