Do I ship it?

GamesDestructionDestruction + Psychological Horror

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Psychological-Horror Destruction game?

Destruction + Psychological Horror

Only 16 developers shipped a Psychological-Horror Destruction game in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, The Headliners, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 17 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $3.0k, ×4.8 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $120; 1 in 20 cleared $2.0M, ×3257 the market median. Revenue is up 40% on the market; 17 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 4.8 times the market baseline, revenue up 40% on the market, 17 announced, ×2.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Destruction + Psychological Horror
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 16
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $104k → $29k → $11k → $1.5k → $45 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Destruction + Psychological Horror: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 16
Bottom 30% $119 (exactly $119)
Median $3.0k (exactly $2,997)
Top 25% $29k (exactly $29,230)
Top 5% $2.0M (exactly $2,045,600)
Developers, 2 yr 16
Released games 45
Announced 17
Effort 6 / 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 40% on the market, supply 40% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 11%, 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.

Destruction
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Psychological Horror
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Destruction; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Action-Adventure, Co-op
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, 1990's, Dark
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 85% positive over 12,960 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 $3.0k, 1 in 4 over $29k, 1 in 20 over $2.0M.

3 in 10 developers made under $120. 8 in 10 of the 10 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 17 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Space SimFair14 devs · median $3.7k · 22 announced
  2. + ModernFair26 devs · median $1.6k · 28 announced
  3. + God GameFair19 devs · median $899 · 20 announced
  4. + Hidden ObjectFair9 devs · median $719 · 14 announced
  5. + Hack and SlashPoor odds19 devs · median $43k · 57 announced
  6. + HistoricalPoor odds15 devs · median $26k · 22 announced
  7. + CapitalismPoor odds17 devs · median $15k · 46 announced
  8. + Online Co-OpPoor odds37 devs · median $13k · 102 announced
  9. + Co-opPoor odds50 devs · median $11k · 113 announced
  10. + Automobile SimPoor odds22 devs · median $9.0k · 44 announced
  11. + ManagementPoor odds36 devs · median $6.1k · 129 announced
  12. + AutomationPoor odds22 devs · median $6.0k · 46 announced

All 139 pairs on the Destruction page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
People Playground older $9.99 298,158 98% 8.9M $89M (exactly $89,357,953) mestiez
Trepang2 older $39.99 15,774 93% 473k $19M (exactly $18,924,068) Trepang Studios
The Headliners $7.99 8,534 86% 256k $2.0M (exactly $2,045,600) KAFI
FlatOut 4: Total Insanity older $29.99 1,938 53% 58k $1.7M (exactly $1,743,619) Kylotonn
Funnel Runners · EA $14.99 2,941 83% 88k $1.3M (exactly $1,322,568) Supernova Studios LLC
Spirit Island older $24.99 1,545 91% 46k $1.2M (exactly $1,158,286) Handelabra Games Inc.
ICBM: Escalation $29.99 1,248 86% 37k $1.1M (exactly $1,122,826) SoftWarWare
FlatOut 3: Chaos & Destruction older $9.99 3,672 17% 110k $1.1M (exactly $1,100,498) Team 6 Studios
Angel at Dusk older $14.99 1,676 98% 50k $754k (exactly $753,697) Akiragoya
Hamster Hunter older $4.99 3,470 95% 104k $519k (exactly $519,459) Hamuno
The Strange City $14.99 65 47% 2.0k $29k (exactly $29,230) Newmatic Co., Ltd.
Drywall Eating Simulator $9.99 50 76% 1.5k $15k (exactly $14,985) Peripheral Playbox
Spaceflux $4.99 73 57% 2.2k $11k (exactly $10,928) Calin Ardelean
Ragdoll Playground $9.99 13 69% 390 $3.9k (exactly $3,896) Paphnutius
DOOM SPIRAL $9.99 10 100% 300 $3.0k (exactly $2,997) Forbidden Saucery
Evil Superhero Simulator · EA $2.99 17 88% 510 $1.5k (exactly $1,525) Superhero Central
Super Kingcrab Simulator $1.99 9 88% 270 $537 (exactly $537) !CyberApex (SkagoGames)

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