Games › Survival › Survival + Dragons
Should I ship a Dragon Survival game?
Survival + Dragons
Only 16 developers shipped a Dragon Survival 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, RuneScape: Dragonwilds, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 49 more are announced, ×4.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $720, ×1.1 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $240; 1 in 20 cleared $25M, ×40216 the market median. Revenue is up 685% on the market; 49 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $239 (exactly $239) |
|---|---|
| Median | $718 (exactly $718) |
| Top 25% | $4.2k (exactly $4,179) |
| Top 5% | $25M (exactly $25,255,479) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 16 |
| Released games | 71 |
| Announced | 49 |
| 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 685% on the market, supply 65% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 10%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Survival; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Building, Crafting, Action
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 82% positive over 32,592 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $240. 8 in 10 of the 6 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 49 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.9 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Survival with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Social DeductionFair
- + Word GameFair
- + CatsFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + DogsFair
- + Martial ArtsLong shot
- + Boomer ShooterLong shot
- + DiplomacyPoor odds
Comparable games
ARK: Survival Evolved 2017 · $264M 
RuneScape: Dragonwilds 2026 · $25M 
Dark and Light 2017 · EA · $5.7M 
Day of Dragons 2019 · EA · $3.8M 
Mind Over Magic 2025 · $3.2M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | ARK: Survival Evolved | older | $14.99 | 586,768 83% | 18M | $264M (exactly $263,869,570) | Studio Wildcard, Instinct Games, Efecto… (Studio Wildcard, Instinct Games, Efecto Studios, Virtual Basement LLC) |
| | RuneScape: Dragonwilds | $29.99 | 28,071 81% | 842k | $25M (exactly $25,255,479) | Jagex Ltd | |
| | Dark and Light | · EA older | $17.99 | 10,577 51% | 317k | $5.7M (exactly $5,708,407) | Snail Games USA |
| | Day of Dragons | · EA older | $19.99 | 6,278 68% | 188k | $3.8M (exactly $3,764,917) | Beawesome Games |
| | Mind Over Magic | $24.99 | 4,314 86% | 129k | $3.2M (exactly $3,234,206) | Sparkypants | |
 | Citadel: Forged with Fire | older | $14.99 | 5,004 67% | 150k | $2.3M (exactly $2,250,299) | Blue Isle Studios |
 | CastleMiner Z | older | $5.99 | 7,939 83% | 238k | $1.4M (exactly $1,426,638) | DigitalDNA Games |
 | Driftland: The Magic Revival | older | $19.99 | 1,439 73% | 43k | $863k (exactly $862,968) | Star Drifters |
 | Aground | older | $14.99 | 1,823 94% | 55k | $820k (exactly $819,803) | Fancy Fish Games, SnöBox Studio |
 | Savage Lands | older | $3.99 | 4,173 56% | 125k | $500k (exactly $499,508) | Last Bastion Studios LLC |
 | Spirit Animal Survival | $19.99 | 96 62% | 2.9k | $58k (exactly $57,571) | TRUEFX GAMES | |
 | Undead Tide: Light's Defense | $1.99 | 70 75% | 2.1k | $4.2k (exactly $4,179) | Crazy Studio | |
 | Ancient Guardians: The Dragon | $5.99 | 23 82% | 690 | $4.1k (exactly $4,133) | Luphix | |
 | FIRE The First Dreamer | $19.99 | 2 0% | 60 | $1.2k (exactly $1,199) | SIC Games | |
 | スローライフサバイバー／SlowLife Survivor | $6.99 | 5 0% | 150 | $1.0k (exactly $1,048) | MIZUBLUE GAMES | |
 | Gladiator | $2.99 | 8 0% | 240 | $718 (exactly $718) | coreloop | |
 | Gods Of Fire | $9.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $300 (exactly $300) | Nest of Games | |
 | Star Witch | $4.99 | 2 0% | 60 | $299 (exactly $299) | Frozen Dungeon |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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