Do I ship it?

Games › Survival Horror › Survival Horror + Detective

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Detective Survival Horror?

Survival Horror + Detective

Of 92 developers who shipped a Detective Survival Horror 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.. 113 more are announced, ×2.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $1.9k, ×3.1 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $720; 1 in 20 cleared $2.1M, ×3367 the market median. Revenue is up 20% on the market; 113 games are announced against 52 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.1 times the market baseline, revenue up 20% on the market, 113 announced, ×2.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Survival Horror + Detective
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 92
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $3.1k → $20k → $7.8k → $5.9k → $1.9k → $1.8k → $1.8k (still earning) → $5.9k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Survival Horror + Detective: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 92
Bottom 30% $719 (exactly $719)
Median $1.9k (exactly $1,946)
Top 25% $17k (exactly $17,391)
Top 5% $2.1M (exactly $2,114,577)
Developers, 2 yr 92
Released games 213
Announced 113
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $6.99

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 20% on the market, supply 25% 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.

Survival Horror
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Detective
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
Survival Horror; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Puzzle, Investigation
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, Atmospheric, Story Rich
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 85% positive over 35,529 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $720, median $1.9k, 1 in 4 over $17k, 1 in 20 over $2.1M.

3 in 10 developers made under $720. 8 in 10 of the 44 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 113 games are announced against 52 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.2 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + FMVFair13 devs · median $31k · 14 announced
  2. + DrivingFair20 devs · median $4.9k · 25 announced
  3. + Tower DefenseFair14 devs · median $1.9k · 16 announced
  4. + IncrementalFair16 devs · median $1.6k · 19 announced
  5. + SnowFair17 devs · median $1.2k · 15 announced
  6. + SportsFair5 devs · median $959 · 3 announced
  7. + Outbreak SimFair22 devs · median $958 · 24 announced
  8. + 3D PlatformerFair111 devs · median $539 · 104 announced
  9. + Boomer ShooterFair27 devs · median $449 · 28 announced
  10. + Turn-Based CombatPoor odds10 devs · median $64k · 42 announced
  11. + LGBTQ+Poor odds17 devs · median $52k · 21 announced
  12. + Spectacle fighterPoor odds8 devs · median $52k · 12 announced

All 159 pairs on the Survival Horror page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Demonologist 2023 · $11M Pathologic 2 2019 · $10M Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls 2017 · $6.7M Call of Cthulhu® 2018 · $6.6M Ghost Watchers 2025 · $5.7M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Demonologist older $19.99 18,886 85% 567k $11M (exactly $11,325,934) Clock Wizard Games
Pathologic 2 older $34.99 9,554 92% 287k $10M (exactly $10,028,834) Ice-Pick Lodge
Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls older $29.99 7,405 81% 222k $6.7M (exactly $6,662,278) Spike Chunsoft Co., Ltd.
Call of Cthulhu® older $19.99 10,962 79% 329k $6.6M (exactly $6,573,911) Cyanide Studio
Ghost Watchers $14.99 12,729 86% 382k $5.7M (exactly $5,724,231) Renderise
Alone in the Dark older $39.99 3,325 77% 100k $4.0M (exactly $3,989,002) Pieces Interactive
Shift At Midnight $9.99 10,147 88% 304k $3.0M (exactly $3,041,056) Bun Muen
Enigma of Fear $29.99 3,045 95% 91k $2.7M (exactly $2,739,586) Dumativa, Cellbit
Pathologic 3 $34.99 2,528 80% 76k $2.7M (exactly $2,653,642) Ice-Pick Lodge
Deadly Premonition: The Director's Cut older $24.99 3,243 65% 97k $2.4M (exactly $2,431,277) Rising Star Games
The Sinking City 2 $49.99 1,410 83% 42k $2.1M (exactly $2,114,577) Frogwares
Zoochosis $24.99 2,200 60% 66k $1.6M (exactly $1,649,340) Clapperheads
Sinister Night 2 $9.99 1,800 86% 54k $539k (exactly $539,460) Bug Inventors
Project Unknown $9.99 776 81% 23k $233k (exactly $232,567) PsychoRavens
The Occultist $29.99 244 74% 7.3k $220k (exactly $219,527) DALOAR
True Fear: Forsaken Souls Part 3 $9.99 650 92% 20k $195k (exactly $194,805) Goblinz Enterprises Ltd

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