Do I ship it?

Games › Dungeon Crawler › Dungeon Crawler + Futuristic

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Futuristic Dungeon Crawler?

Dungeon Crawler + Futuristic

Of 41 developers who shipped a Futuristic Dungeon Crawler 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.. 104 more are announced, ×5.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.8k, ×3.8 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $120; 1 in 20 cleared $210k, ×462 the market median. Revenue is up 320% on the market; 104 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.8 times the market baseline, revenue up 320% on the market, 104 announced, ×5.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Dungeon Crawler + Futuristic
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 41
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $3.6k → $3.0k → $955 → $180 → $599 → $2.7k → $2.1k (still earning) → $1.9k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Dungeon Crawler + Futuristic: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 41
Bottom 30% $120 (exactly $120)
Median $1.8k (exactly $1,798)
Top 25% $4.8k (exactly $4,795)
Top 5% $219k (exactly $219,454)
Developers, 2 yr 41
Released games 121
Announced 104
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
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 320% on the market, supply 20% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 17%, 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.

Dungeon Crawler
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
Futuristic
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Dungeon Crawler; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Procedural Generation, Adventure
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Anime
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 57% positive over 7,004 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $120, median $1.8k, 1 in 4 over $4.7k, 1 in 20 over $210k.

3 in 10 developers made under $120. 9 in 10 of the 26 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 104 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.8 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Time ManagementFair35 devs · median $7.0k · 44 announced
  2. + GamblingFair16 devs · median $7.0k · 17 announced
  3. + DiceFair24 devs · median $5.1k · 32 announced
  4. + Artificial IntelligenceFair29 devs · median $2.3k · 38 announced
  5. + Local Co-OpFair49 devs · median $1.8k · 60 announced
  6. + ZombiesFair65 devs · median $1.0k · 74 announced
  7. + Word GameFair12 devs · median $899 · 15 announced
  8. + ThrillerFair45 devs · median $716 · 46 announced
  9. + Walking SimulatorFair59 devs · median $479 · 62 announced
  10. + Score AttackFair29 devs · median $479 · 33 announced
  11. + MMORPGPoor odds10 devs · median $144k · 80 announced
  12. + DwarvesPoor odds8 devs · median $55k · 30 announced

All 175 pairs on the Dungeon Crawler page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Echoes of Aincrad 2026 · $8.6M Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion 2025 · $3.9M CRYMACHINA 2023 · $1.3M LIFE EFFECT Survival 2026 · EA · $219k Critadel 2021 · $130k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Echoes of Aincrad $69.99 4,108 47% 123k $8.6M (exactly $8,625,568) Game Studio Inc.
Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion $69.99 1,838 63% 55k $3.9M (exactly $3,859,249) Marvelous Inc.
CRYMACHINA older $59.99 725 85% 22k $1.3M (exactly $1,304,782) FURYU Corporation
LIFE EFFECT Survival · EA $14.99 488 85% 15k $219k (exactly $219,454) LIFE EFFECT
Critadel older $19.99 216 76% 6.5k $130k (exactly $129,535) Pixelian Studio
DISORDER $29.99 123 50% 3.7k $111k (exactly $110,663) GRUMPY
Dreadhunter · EA older $24.99 141 77% 4.2k $106k (exactly $105,708) Trickster Arts
The Land Beneath Us older $14.99 230 79% 6.9k $103k (exactly $103,431) FairPlay Studios
VoidBound · EA older $19.99 85 91% 2.6k $51k (exactly $50,974) CursedAtelier
Footgun: Underground older $14.99 102 85% 3.1k $46k (exactly $45,869) Turtle Knight Games
CosmicGalaxyWars $19.99 34 76% 1.0k $20k (exactly $20,390) YOSHITSUNA INC.
Colony 37 · EA $2.99 224 95% 6.7k $20k (exactly $20,093) Valen
G-MODEアーカイブス+ ゼノサーガ パイドパイパー $15.99 23 100% 690 $11k (exactly $11,033) G-MODE, Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc.
Future Breach 64 $2.99 105 86% 3.2k $9.4k (exactly $9,418) Yurii Nikshych
Maraka $8.99 27 70% 810 $7.3k (exactly $7,282) David Kaleta, Lukas Svrcek
Obliterator-X $5.99 34 85% 1.0k $6.1k (exactly $6,110) Webbysoft

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