Do I ship it?

Games › Driving › Driving + Survival Horror

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Driving Survival Horror?

Driving + Survival Horror

Of 20 developers who shipped a Driving 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.. 25 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $4.9k, ×7.9 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $1.2k. Revenue is up 45% on the market; 25 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 7.9 times the market baseline, revenue up 45% on the market, 25 announced, ×1.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Driving + Survival Horror
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: $16k → $6.6k → $11k → $4.8k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Driving + Survival Horror: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 20
Bottom 30% $1.2k (exactly $1,199)
Median $4.9k (exactly $4,940)
Top 25% $11k (exactly $11,242)
Top 5% $429k (exactly $429,464)
Developers, 2 yr 20
Released games 46
Announced 25
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $7.99

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 45% on the market, supply 85% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 4%, 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 low: the lowest rating among its tags.

Driving
effort 6 / 10 · low · vehicle handling feel is tuned by hand
Survival Horror
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium 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
Driving, Survival Horror; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Exploration, Adventure
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, Atmospheric, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 79% positive over 1,546 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $1.2k, median $4.9k, 1 in 4 over $11k, 1 in 20 over $420k.

3 in 10 developers made under $1.2k. 7 in 10 of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 25 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Driving with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Split ScreenFair54 devs · median $6.0k · 56 announced
  2. + Psychological HorrorFair35 devs · median $5.9k · 43 announced
  3. + IdlerFair16 devs · median $5.5k · 18 announced
  4. + World War IIFair8 devs · median $4.2k · 9 announced
  5. + MusicFair8 devs · median $2.4k · 10 announced
  6. + ThrillerFair18 devs · median $2.0k · 21 announced
  7. + Interactive FictionFair12 devs · median $1.2k · 13 announced
  8. + LogicFair30 devs · median $958 · 29 announced
  9. + Hidden ObjectFair26 devs · median $897 · 23 announced
  10. + Online Co-OpPoor odds82 devs · median $48k · 157 announced
  11. + AutomationPoor odds24 devs · median $44k · 36 announced
  12. + TrainsPoor odds24 devs · median $39k · 29 announced

All 130 pairs on the Driving page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

City Car Driving 2016 · $25M Pacific Drive 2024 · $19M Train Sim World® 3 2022 · $3.0M TramSim Vienna - The Tram Simulator 2020 · $1.4M FlatOut 3: Chaos & Destruction 2011 · $1.1M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
City Car Driving older $24.99 33,612 82% 1.0M $25M (exactly $25,198,916) Forward Development, Ltd.
Pacific Drive older $29.99 21,547 83% 646k $19M (exactly $19,385,836) Ironwood Studios
Train Sim World® 3 older $24.99 3,953 79% 119k $3.0M (exactly $2,963,564) Dovetail Games
TramSim Vienna - The Tram Simulator older $34.99 1,339 77% 40k $1.4M (exactly $1,405,548) ViewApp
FlatOut 3: Chaos & Destruction older $9.99 3,672 17% 110k $1.1M (exactly $1,100,498) Team 6 Studios
Outbreak Island · EA $14.99 955 78% 29k $429k (exactly $429,464) Tiny Magicians
Contagion VR: Outbreak older $9.99 642 64% 19k $192k (exactly $192,407) Monochrome, Inc
Drive 4 Survival · EA older $19.99 228 58% 6.8k $137k (exactly $136,732) M3M Games
Road Maintenance Simulator older $24.99 159 57% 4.8k $119k (exactly $119,202) Caipirinha Games
Nightmare Drive · EA $14.99 156 78% 4.7k $70k (exactly $70,153) Voidfiller
Odd Remedy · EA $9.99 159 87% 4.8k $48k (exactly $47,652) Oddscure
True Nightmare - Roadside Сafe $7.99 135 80% 4.1k $32k (exactly $32,360) Frost Fox Studios
Junkyard Fury 3 $14.99 25 92% 750 $11k (exactly $11,242) Dhood Gaming
HorrorDriven: A story for the road $16.99 13 92% 390 $6.6k (exactly $6,626) InputAlfa
Raccoon on a boat $5.99 33 60% 990 $5.9k (exactly $5,930) PUMPKIM
Homeostasis $8.99 20 85% 600 $5.4k (exactly $5,394) Gasimo, Saas
Gravehold: Survival $9.99 17 76% 510 $5.1k (exactly $5,095) Obsidian Core
He Followed Me $4.99 33 72% 990 $4.9k (exactly $4,940) ZestosYt

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