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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.
| 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.
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
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
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.
What kills games here
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.
Adjacent niches
Destruction with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Space SimFair
- + ModernFair
- + God GameFair
- + Hidden ObjectFair
- + Hack and SlashPoor odds
- + HistoricalPoor odds
- + CapitalismPoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
- + Co-opPoor odds
- + Automobile SimPoor odds
- + ManagementPoor odds
- + AutomationPoor odds
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.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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