Do I ship it?

Games › Roguelite › Roguelite + Demons

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Demon Roguelite?

Roguelite + Demons

Of 150 developers who shipped a Demon Roguelite 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.. 261 more are announced, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $1.3k, ×2.8 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $110k, ×251 the market median. Revenue is up 140% on the market; 261 games are announced against 85 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.8 times the market baseline, revenue up 140% on the market, 261 announced, ×3.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Roguelite + Demons
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 150
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $102k → $2.1k → $3.2k → $1.3k → $1.1k → $2.7k → $987 (still earning) → $1.4k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Roguelite + Demons: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 150
Bottom 30% $359 (exactly $359)
Median $1.3k (exactly $1,349)
Top 25% $8.4k (exactly $8,390)
Top 5% $119k (exactly $119,195)
Developers, 2 yr 150
Released games 290
Announced 261
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 up 140% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 9%, 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.

Roguelite
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
Roguelite; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Action Roguelike, Roguelike
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 92% positive over 36,436 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $360, median $1.3k, 1 in 4 over $8.3k, 1 in 20 over $110k.

3 in 10 developers made under $360. 9 in 10 of the 66 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 261 games are announced against 85 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Real-TimeFair11 devs · median $11k · 14 announced
  2. + ProgrammingFair24 devs · median $9.3k · 28 announced
  3. + VampiresFair60 devs · median $4.8k · 62 announced
  4. + TypingFair29 devs · median $2.4k · 34 announced
  5. + Grand StrategyFair21 devs · median $2.0k · 23 announced
  6. + IdlerFair166 devs · median $1.5k · 235 announced
  7. + DogsFair30 devs · median $1.3k · 22 announced
  8. + Walking SimulatorFair23 devs · median $1.1k · 23 announced
  9. + Score AttackFair344 devs · median $719 · 450 announced
  10. + Point & ClickFair94 devs · median $600 · 121 announced
  11. + LogicFair144 devs · median $599 · 143 announced
  12. + DwarvesPoor odds21 devs · median $74k · 24 announced

All 229 pairs on the Roguelite page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Monster Train 2020 · $15M Halls of Torment 2024 · $6.1M Last Evil 2020 · $1.1M Heretic's Fork 2023 · $928k Bloodshed 2025 · $711k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Monster Train older $24.99 19,950 95% 599k $15M (exactly $14,956,515) Shiny Shoe
Halls of Torment $6.66 30,752 95% 923k $6.1M (exactly $6,144,250) Chasing Carrots
Last Evil older $9.99 3,559 94% 107k $1.1M (exactly $1,066,632) Flametorch
Heretic's Fork older $9.99 3,097 85% 93k $928k (exactly $928,171) 9FingerGames
Bloodshed $12.99 1,824 84% 55k $711k (exactly $710,813) com8com1 Software
DemonCrawl older $14.99 1,230 76% 37k $553k (exactly $553,131) Therefore Games
Vambrace: Cold Soul older $24.99 694 65% 21k $520k (exactly $520,292) Devespresso Games
Grind Survivors $12.99 1,332 69% 40k $519k (exactly $519,080) Pushka Studios
DAIMON BLADES · EA $19.90 707 69% 21k $422k (exactly $422,079) StreumOn Studio
Dragon Is Dead $19.99 661 75% 20k $396k (exactly $396,402) TeamSuneat
Wartorn $34.99 130 73% 3.9k $136k (exactly $136,461) Stray Kite Studios
HELLBREAK $14.99 275 76% 8.3k $124k (exactly $123,668) Double Barrel Games
Runeborn $13.99 284 80% 8.5k $119k (exactly $119,195) iDream Interactive
Holy Shoot $12.99 267 78% 8.0k $104k (exactly $104,050) Tale Era Interactive
Lazy Witch's Factory · EA $15.99 204 91% 6.1k $98k (exactly $97,859) MELTCLOCK.Inc

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