Do I ship it?

GamesSurvivalSurvival + Dogs

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Dog Survival game?

Survival + Dogs

Of 20 developers who shipped a Dog Survival game 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.. 19 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $540, ×0.9 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $150. Revenue is up 200% on the market; 19 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 0.9 times the market baseline, revenue up 200% on the market, 19 announced, ×1.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Survival + Dogs
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 20
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $48k → $7.2k → $33k → $120 → $594 → $1.9k (still earning) → $898 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Survival + Dogs: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 20
Bottom 30% $148 (exactly $148)
Median $535 (exactly $535)
Top 25% $1.9k (exactly $1,946)
Top 5% $670k (exactly $670,441)
Developers, 2 yr 20
Released games 53
Announced 19
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $3.99

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 200% on the market, supply 50% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 6%, 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
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Dogs
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; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Action, Action Roguelike
Price point
$3.99 typical · top 25% priced $8.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $8.99 or above; the middle game at $3.99.

The top 10 games average 88% positive over 3,349 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $150, median $540, 1 in 4 over $1.9k, 1 in 20 over $670k.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 19 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + FMVStrong odds14 devs · median $74k · 10 announced
  2. + Social DeductionFair31 devs · median $6.2k · 35 announced
  3. + Word GameFair22 devs · median $2.1k · 29 announced
  4. + CatsFair33 devs · median $1.2k · 34 announced
  5. + CollectathonFair77 devs · median $1.0k · 84 announced
  6. + IdlerFair96 devs · median $836 · 99 announced
  7. + Auto BattlerFair79 devs · median $807 · 90 announced
  8. + IncrementalFair101 devs · median $599 · 130 announced
  9. + Martial ArtsLong shot19 devs · median $419 · 17 announced
  10. + Boomer ShooterLong shot39 devs · median $359 · 32 announced
  11. + DiplomacyPoor odds16 devs · median $100k · 28 announced
  12. + SteampunkPoor odds10 devs · median $78k · 49 announced

All 234 pairs on the Survival page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® 3 (2011) older $39.99 15,588 90% 468k $19M (exactly $18,700,924) Infinity Ward, Sledgehammer Games
Blair Witch older $29.99 6,489 78% 195k $5.8M (exactly $5,838,153) Bloober Team SA
The Flame in the Flood older $14.99 2,709 76% 81k $1.2M (exactly $1,218,237) The Molasses Flood
Pratfall $7.99 2,797 90% 84k $670k (exactly $670,441) Quad Head
Arctico older $9.99 2,207 70% 66k $661k (exactly $661,438) Claudio Norori, Antonio Vargas
The Pale Mimic $7.99 345 86% 10k $83k (exactly $82,696) Dark Snow Games
Anglerfish older $9.99 271 82% 8.1k $81k (exactly $81,219) Professional Villains
Castaway older $7.99 264 73% 7.9k $63k (exactly $63,281) Canari Games
HITLER: BDSM BUNKER older $9.99 164 81% 4.9k $49k (exactly $49,151) Adolf Games
Domestic Dog older $4.99 319 83% 9.6k $48k (exactly $47,754) SD
Ice World $9.99 111 57% 3.3k $33k (exactly $33,267) CoolRabbit Games
The Peak of Life $8.99 30 66% 900 $8.1k (exactly $8,091) XY Game
King Charles: Rise of the Alpha · EA $4.99 13 100% 390 $1.9k (exactly $1,946) DodoModo, BoppoLoppo
Kinap $2.99 13 100% 390 $1.2k (exactly $1,166) Golden Adam Games
Fully Dogomatic $3.99 8 87% 240 $958 (exactly $958) Tommy Keys
Corgi Survivor $5.99 5 100% 150 $898 (exactly $898) Symbolic
Swarm Sweeper $2.99 7 100% 210 $628 (exactly $628) Hi-Develop
Chasing Her Light $0.99 20 80% 600 $594 (exactly $594) DodoModo, BoppoLoppo

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