Do I ship it?

Games › Perma Death › Perma Death + Demons

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Demon Perma Death game?

Perma Death + Demons

Of 49 developers who shipped a Demon Perma Death 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.. 85 more are announced, ×3.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $600, ×1.3 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $120; 1 in 20 cleared $100k, ×218 the market median. Revenue is down 70% on the market; 85 games are announced against 25 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.3 times the market baseline, revenue down 70% on the market, 85 announced, ×3.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Perma Death + Demons
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 49
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.2k → $599 → $5.9k → $1.6k → $1.1k → $897 → $748 (still earning) → $179 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Perma Death + Demons: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 49
Bottom 30% $120 (exactly $120)
Median $599 (exactly $599)
Top 25% $5.5k (exactly $5,452)
Top 5% $103k (exactly $103,431)
Developers, 2 yr 49
Released games 128
Announced 85
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $4.99

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 70% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.

Free games: 12%, 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.

Perma Death
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high 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
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Perma Death; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, RPG, Roguelike
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Pixel Graphics, Top-Down
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 84% positive over 5,828 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $120, median $600, 1 in 4 over $5.4k, 1 in 20 over $100k.

3 in 10 developers made under $120. 8 in 10 of the 30 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 85 games are announced against 25 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.4 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + LGBTQ+Strong odds15 devs · median $55k · 7 announced
  2. + Turn-BasedFair49 devs · median $10k · 57 announced
  3. + Roguelike DeckbuilderFair65 devs · median $8.1k · 66 announced
  4. + Creature CollectorFair30 devs · median $5.3k · 33 announced
  5. + Mystery DungeonFair27 devs · median $2.7k · 29 announced
  6. + PiratesFair11 devs · median $2.1k · 14 announced
  7. + Traditional RoguelikeFair49 devs · median $1.8k · 55 announced
  8. + Interactive FictionFair27 devs · median $959 · 28 announced
  9. + Precision PlatformerFair46 devs · median $719 · 31 announced
  10. + Time ManagementFair49 devs · median $539 · 66 announced
  11. + Visual NovelFair21 devs · median $538 · 18 announced
  12. + 3D PlatformerFair36 devs · median $537 · 36 announced

All 164 pairs on the Perma Death page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Dead Estate 2021 · $2.6M Hell Clock 2025 · $2.1M Jupiter Hell 2021 · $1.3M Heretic's Fork 2023 · $928k Paranoia Place: Escape Together 2025 · $373k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Dead Estate older $14.99 5,778 95% 173k $2.6M (exactly $2,598,367) Milkbar Lads
Hell Clock $19.99 3,535 82% 106k $2.1M (exactly $2,119,940) Rogue Snail
Jupiter Hell older $24.99 1,795 91% 54k $1.3M (exactly $1,345,712) ChaosForge
Heretic's Fork older $9.99 3,097 85% 93k $928k (exactly $928,171) 9FingerGames
Paranoia Place: Escape Together $7.99 1,555 87% 47k $373k (exactly $372,734) Bloody Pixel Games
It Steals older $4.99 2,144 98% 64k $321k (exactly $320,957) Zeekerss
Age of Fear 2: The Chaos Lord GOLD older $24.99 273 80% 8.2k $205k (exactly $204,668) Leslaw Sliwko
INFERNIUM older $29.99 167 64% 5.0k $150k (exactly $150,250) Carlos Coronado
Exodus Borealis older $19.99 243 91% 7.3k $146k (exactly $145,727) Smug Marmot Studios
Jupiter Hell Classic · EA $14.99 230 95% 6.9k $103k (exactly $103,431) ChaosForge
Raining Blood: Hellfire $7.99 198 89% 5.9k $47k (exactly $47,461) TechBooh
Succubus Heaven $24.99 62 83% 1.9k $46k (exactly $46,481) Chaos Gate
Monday Syndrome $9.99 62 75% 1.9k $19k (exactly $18,581) hyesmo
Deadzoned · EA $4.99 66 98% 2.0k $9.9k (exactly $9,880) caiys
DON'T LOOK AT GRANDMA $4.99 64 93% 1.9k $9.6k (exactly $9,581) Danger Sauce LLC
Cosmic Call $9.99 30 96% 900 $9.0k (exactly $8,991) CosmicDev
DeAnima $9.99 26 84% 780 $7.8k (exactly $7,792) Steelgaze Studio

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