Games › Souls-like › Souls-like + Demons
Should I ship a Demon Souls-like?
Souls-like + Demons
Of 56 developers who shipped a Demon Souls-like 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.. 93 more are announced, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.2k, ×1.4 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $540; 1 in 20 cleared $450k, ×301 the market median. Revenue is up 645% on the market; 93 games are announced against 30 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $538 (exactly $538) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.2k (exactly $2,158) |
| Top 25% | $18k (exactly $17,988) |
| Top 5% | $451k (exactly $450,570) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 56 |
| Released games | 134 |
| Announced | 93 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 645% on the market, supply 10% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 13%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Souls-like
- effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
- Demons
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Souls-like; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, RPG
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Third Person, Difficult
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 78% positive over 22,584 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $540. 9 in 10 of the 28 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 93 games are announced against 30 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Souls-like with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Dating SimStrong odds
- + Visual NovelFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + JRPGFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + PsychologicalFair
- + Walking SimulatorFair
- + Precision PlatformerLong shot
- + Score AttackLong shot
- + WarPoor odds
- + Turn-Based TacticsPoor odds
- + RomancePoor odds
Comparable games
Mortal Shell II 2026 · $28M 
She Will Punish Them 2020 · EA · $8.2M 
Carnal Instinct 2021 · EA · $4.9M 
Blood West 2023 · $4.6M 
Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus 2024 · $838k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Mortal Shell II | $49.99 | 18,644 79% | 559k | $28M (exactly $27,960,407) | Cold Symmetry | |
| | She Will Punish Them | · EA older | $15.99 | 17,164 86% | 515k | $8.2M (exactly $8,233,571) | L2 Games |
| | Carnal Instinct | · EA older | $29.99 | 5,407 82% | 162k | $4.9M (exactly $4,864,678) | Team Carnal Instinct |
| | Blood West | older | $24.99 | 6,132 90% | 184k | $4.6M (exactly $4,597,160) | Hyperstrange |
| | Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus | older | $19.99 | 1,398 82% | 42k | $838k (exactly $838,381) | Squid Shock Studios, Christopher Stair,… (Squid Shock Studios, Christopher Stair, Trevor Youngquist) |
 | Slain: Back from Hell | older | $12.99 | 1,692 71% | 51k | $659k (exactly $659,372) | Steel Mantis |
 | Bound By Flame | older | $6.99 | 3,058 67% | 92k | $641k (exactly $641,263) | Spiders |
 | The Devil Within: Satgat | $24.99 | 795 78% | 24k | $596k (exactly $596,012) | Newcore Games | |
 | Trench Tales | · EA | $24.99 | 601 69% | 18k | $451k (exactly $450,570) | Talking Drums |
 | 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 | |
 | Eternity Egg | · EA | $19.99 | 577 82% | 17k | $346k (exactly $346,027) | USERLANDS |
 | The Relic: First Guardian | $34.99 | 167 43% | 5.0k | $175k (exactly $175,300) | Project Cloud Games | |
 | Dark Dominion | $14.99 | 170 72% | 5.1k | $76k (exactly $76,449) | ZERO5GAMES | |
 | Magenta Horizon - Neverending Harvest | $10.99 | 175 89% | 5.3k | $58k (exactly $57,698) | Maddison Baek | |
 | DAMON and BABY | $19.99 | 87 89% | 2.6k | $52k (exactly $52,174) | Arc System Works |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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