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.
| 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.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
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
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.
What kills games here
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.
Adjacent niches
Loot with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Artificial IntelligenceStrong odds
- + Local Co-OpStrong odds
- + SteampunkStrong odds
- + CapitalismFair
- + Turn-Based StrategyFair
- + JRPGFair
- + EconomyFair
- + IdlerFair
- + CatsFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + Creature CollectorFair
- + CollectathonFair
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.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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