Do I ship it?

Games › Procedural Generation › Procedural Generation + Dwarves

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Dwarf Procedural Generation game?

Procedural Generation + Dwarves

Only 11 developers shipped a Dwarf Procedural Generation 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, Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 24 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $9.6k, ×15 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $900; 1 in 20 cleared $18M, ×28765 the market median. Revenue is down 100% on the market; 24 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 15.3 times the market baseline, revenue down 100% on the market, 24 announced, ×3.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Procedural Generation + Dwarves
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 11
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $212k → $9.6k → $3.7k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Procedural Generation + Dwarves: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 11
Bottom 30% $898 (exactly $898)
Median $9.6k (exactly $9,581)
Top 25% $708k (exactly $708,466)
Top 5% $18M (exactly $18,064,154)
Developers, 2 yr 11
Released games 31
Announced 24
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
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 down 100% on the market, supply 165% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 13%, 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.

Procedural Generation
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
Dwarves
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
Procedural Generation
Price point
$8.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 10 games average 86% positive over 52,558 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $900, median $9.6k, 1 in 4 over $700k, 1 in 20 over $18M.

3 in 10 developers made under $900. 24 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + SnowFair11 devs · median $3.0k · 16 announced
  2. + Traditional RoguelikeFair71 devs · median $2.0k · 93 announced
  3. + DetectiveFair29 devs · median $1.5k · 30 announced
  4. + Word GameFair22 devs · median $1.3k · 23 announced
  5. + TypingFair26 devs · median $1.1k · 11 announced
  6. + IdlerFair98 devs · median $807 · 107 announced
  7. + LogicFair137 devs · median $478 · 149 announced
  8. + Walking SimulatorFair57 devs · median $449 · 62 announced
  9. + Precision PlatformerFair49 devs · median $449 · 42 announced
  10. + Hidden ObjectFair58 devs · median $418 · 56 announced
  11. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds31 devs · median $77k · 95 announced
  12. + TrainsPoor odds22 devs · median $30k · 35 announced

All 222 pairs on the Procedural Generation page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Deep Rock Galactic 2020 · $273M Dwarf Fortress 2022 · $26M Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor 2025 · $18M Dwarves: Glory, Death and Loot 2026 · $1.2M KeeperRL 2024 · $1.0M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Deep Rock Galactic older $29.99 303,142 97% 9.1M $273M (exactly $272,736,857) Ghost Ship Games
Dwarf Fortress older $29.99 29,303 94% 879k $26M (exactly $26,363,909) Bay 12 Games
Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor $12.99 46,354 86% 1.4M $18M (exactly $18,064,154) Funday Games
Dwarves: Glory, Death and Loot $14.99 2,588 82% 78k $1.2M (exactly $1,163,824) Hamma Studios
KeeperRL older $19.99 1,677 83% 50k $1.0M (exactly $1,005,697) Electric Succubi
Rampage Knights older $12.99 2,179 93% 65k $849k (exactly $849,156) Rake in Grass
Orebound · EA $24.99 945 77% 28k $708k (exactly $708,466) Emberforge
Gnomes $9.99 1,757 94% 53k $527k (exactly $526,573) DYSTOPIAN
Desktop Dungeons older $14.99 1,134 88% 34k $510k (exactly $509,960) QCF Design
Stonewards · EA $9.99 806 94% 24k $242k (exactly $241,558) Banana Tiger Studio
OREBLAZE $4.99 64 92% 1.9k $9.6k (exactly $9,581) Ludiminal Games
Dungeon Bomber $3.99 31 100% 930 $3.7k (exactly $3,711) 作っちゃうおじさん/TUKUCHAU-OJISAN
IRONBORNE $4.99 6 100% 180 $898 (exactly $898) Tres Interactive
Robugs $6.99 3 66% 90 $629 (exactly $629) Marcin Rodzon
Isekai Guild Simulation $3.99 4 75% 120 $479 (exactly $479) Berkay Turkmen, Pelin Aktas

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