Games › Souls-like › Souls-like + Dragons
Should I ship a Dragon Souls-like?
Souls-like + Dragons
Only 15 developers shipped a Dragon Souls-like 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, Crimson Desert Enhanced, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 41 more are announced, ×8.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $450, ×0.3 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300. 41 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year, ×8.2 per shipper, while revenue is up 5820% on the market.
| Bottom 30% | $299 (exactly $299) |
|---|---|
| Median | $450 (exactly $450) |
| Top 25% | $53k (exactly $53,082) |
| Top 5% | $242M (exactly $241,583,083) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 15 |
| Released games | 51 |
| Announced | 41 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $8.99 |
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 5820% on the market, supply 50% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, 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
- Dragons
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Souls-like; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Action, Adventure
- Price point
- $8.99 typical · top 25% priced $69.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Difficult, Story Rich
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $69.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.
The top 10 games average 83% positive over 116,160 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 8 in 10 of the 11 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 41 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year, ×8.2 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
Crimson Desert Enhanced 2026 · $242M 
MONSTER HUNTER RISE 2022 · $96M 
Lords of the Fallen 2023 · $34M 
ENDER LILIES: Quietus of the Knights 2021 · $32M 
WILD HEARTS™ 2023 · $22M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Crimson Desert Enhanced | $69.99 | 115,056 83% | 3.5M | $242M (exactly $241,583,083) | Pearl Abyss | |
| | MONSTER HUNTER RISE | older | $39.99 | 79,847 84% | 2.4M | $96M (exactly $95,792,446) | CAPCOM Co., Ltd. |
| | Lords of the Fallen | older | $29.99 | 37,902 68% | 1.1M | $34M (exactly $34,100,429) | CI Games |
| | ENDER LILIES: Quietus of the Knights | older | $24.99 | 43,092 93% | 1.3M | $32M (exactly $32,306,072) | Live Wire, Adglobe |
| | WILD HEARTS™ | older | $69.99 | 10,626 48% | 319k | $22M (exactly $22,311,412) | KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. |
 | 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) |
 | Dragon Is Dead | $19.99 | 661 75% | 20k | $396k (exactly $396,402) | TeamSuneat | |
 | Churn Vector | older | $14.99 | 500 89% | 15k | $225k (exactly $224,850) | Naelstrof, Eugene, Archival |
 | XiuzhenWorld | older | $12.99 | 436 75% | 13k | $170k (exactly $169,909) | Noforgetit |
 | Aron's Adventure | older | $19.99 | 204 74% | 6.1k | $122k (exactly $122,339) | Tim van Kan, Tom Raudys |
 | Rise of Rebellion～地罰上らば竜の降る～ | $8.99 | 204 44% | 6.1k | $55k (exactly $55,019) | Team 疾鷹 | |
 | Umbra: The Last Summoner | $29.99 | 59 72% | 1.8k | $53k (exactly $53,082) | EpiRPG | |
 | Adventure of Samsara | $19.99 | 66 89% | 2.0k | $40k (exactly $39,580) | Ilex Games | |
 | Cat Gladiator | $8.99 | 69 86% | 2.1k | $19k (exactly $18,609) | Funleeks Studio | |
 | Mythrealm | · EA | $14.99 | 33 87% | 990 | $15k (exactly $14,840) | Delta Video Games |
 | DarkShine | · EA | $3.00 | 5 100% | 150 | $450 (exactly $450) | DScorp |
 | STEAM TRIGGER | $14.99 | 1 0% | 30 | $450 (exactly $450) | x-climb Inc. | |
 | Arena | $2.00 | 6 100% | 180 | $360 (exactly $360) | 30 Minute Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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