Do I ship it?

GamesLootLoot + Demons

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Demon Loot game?

Loot + Demons

Of 51 developers who shipped a Demon Loot 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.. 88 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $2.4k, ×3.8 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $410k, ×662 the market median. Revenue is down 40% on the market; 88 games are announced against 35 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.8 times the market baseline, revenue down 40% on the market, 88 announced, ×2.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Loot + Demons
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 51
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $4.8k → $1.2k → $898 → $1.1k → $20k → $807 (still earning) → $269 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Loot + Demons: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 51
Bottom 30% $599 (exactly $599)
Median $2.4k (exactly $2,395)
Top 25% $96k (exactly $96,462)
Top 5% $416k (exactly $415,684)
Developers, 2 yr 51
Released games 128
Announced 88
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $6.99

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 40% on the market, supply 120% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 19%, 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.

Loot
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Demons
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Loot; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Action, Action RPG
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Dark
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 78% positive over 8,966 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $600, median $2.4k, 1 in 4 over $96k, 1 in 20 over $410k.

3 in 10 developers made under $600. 7 in 10 of the 17 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 88 games are announced against 35 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Artificial IntelligenceStrong odds28 devs · median $19k · 22 announced
  2. + Local Co-OpStrong odds22 devs · median $7.3k · 21 announced
  3. + SteampunkStrong odds7 devs · median $2.2k · 10 announced
  4. + CapitalismFair36 devs · median $14k · 52 announced
  5. + Turn-Based StrategyFair86 devs · median $6.3k · 97 announced
  6. + JRPGFair34 devs · median $5.5k · 41 announced
  7. + EconomyFair74 devs · median $4.6k · 114 announced
  8. + IdlerFair181 devs · median $4.5k · 256 announced
  9. + CatsFair17 devs · median $3.4k · 24 announced
  10. + IncrementalFair145 devs · median $2.9k · 236 announced
  11. + Creature CollectorFair51 devs · median $2.9k · 67 announced
  12. + CollectathonFair90 devs · median $1.9k · 95 announced

All 159 pairs on the Loot page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Diablo® IV older $49.99 58,668 69% 1.8M $88M (exactly $87,984,400) Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.
Shadow Warrior 2 older $29.99 24,120 87% 724k $22M (exactly $21,700,764) Flying Wild Hog
Atlas Fallen: Reign Of Sand older $39.99 2,773 74% 83k $3.3M (exactly $3,326,768) Deck13
Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor - Prophecy older $24.99 2,884 79% 87k $2.2M (exactly $2,162,135) NeocoreGames
Hell Clock $19.99 3,535 82% 106k $2.1M (exactly $2,119,940) Rogue Snail
Shadows: Awakening older $29.99 1,535 75% 46k $1.4M (exactly $1,381,040) Games Farm
HELLGATE: London older $12.99 2,219 57% 67k $865k (exactly $864,744) T3Entertainment
Grind Survivors $12.99 1,332 69% 40k $519k (exactly $519,080) Pushka Studios
Hellslave older $19.99 703 82% 21k $422k (exactly $421,589) Ars Goetia
Shadow Dungeon $9.99 1,387 78% 42k $416k (exactly $415,684) OO Cat
Dragon Is Dead $19.99 661 75% 20k $396k (exactly $396,402) TeamSuneat
Wayblazer Dämmerung $39.99 244 65% 7.3k $293k (exactly $292,727) Eushully
Concubine · EA $14.99 517 81% 16k $232k (exactly $232,495) Upgrade Entertainment
Talisman: Digital 5th Edition $29.99 227 70% 6.8k $204k (exactly $204,232) Nomad Games
Tower of Kalemonvo $14.99 453 83% 14k $204k (exactly $203,714) osur
Kingdom of Night $19.99 326 86% 9.8k $196k (exactly $195,502) Friends of Safety
Runeborn $13.99 284 80% 8.5k $119k (exactly $119,195) iDream Interactive

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