Do I ship it?

Games › Souls-like › Souls-like + Dystopian

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Dystopian Souls-like?

Souls-like + Dystopian

Of 23 developers who shipped a Dystopian Souls-like 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.. 47 more are announced, ×4.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.8k, ×1.2 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $23M, ×16000 the market median. Revenue is up 20% on the market; 47 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.2 times the market baseline, revenue up 20% on the market, 47 announced, ×4.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Souls-like + Dystopian
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 23
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $5.1k → $2.5k → $1.2k → $809 → $6.7k → $1.0k → $299 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Souls-like + Dystopian: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 23
Bottom 30% $599 (exactly $599)
Median $1.8k (exactly $1,799)
Top 25% $22k (exactly $21,856)
Top 5% $24M (exactly $23,967,800)
Developers, 2 yr 23
Released games 47
Announced 47
Effort 7 / 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 20% on the market, supply 25% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 6%, 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.

Souls-like
effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
Dystopian
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
Systems
Souls-like; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Action-Adventure, Action RPG
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $34.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Third Person, 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $34.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 93% positive over 84,851 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $600, median $1.8k, 1 in 4 over $21k, 1 in 20 over $23M.

3 in 10 developers made under $600. 8 in 10 of the 13 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 47 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.7 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Souls-like with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Dating SimStrong odds17 devs · median $34k · 8 announced
  2. + Visual NovelFair25 devs · median $27k · 17 announced
  3. + Artificial IntelligenceFair13 devs · median $22k · 17 announced
  4. + JRPGFair31 devs · median $8.6k · 35 announced
  5. + IncrementalFair9 devs · median $3.9k · 10 announced
  6. + PsychologicalFair17 devs · median $1.8k · 17 announced
  7. + Walking SimulatorFair17 devs · median $1.3k · 7 announced
  8. + Precision PlatformerLong shot49 devs · median $776 · 46 announced
  9. + Score AttackLong shot18 devs · median $599 · 21 announced
  10. + WarPoor odds8 devs · median $451k · 22 announced
  11. + Turn-Based TacticsPoor odds12 devs · median $88k · 21 announced
  12. + RomancePoor odds10 devs · median $35k · 16 announced

All 122 pairs on the Souls-like page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Stellar Blade™ 2025 · $110M AI LIMIT 2025 · $24M Going Under 2020 · $1.6M Hentai Femdom Sim: Femdom University 2021 · $365k Deathbound 2024 · $194k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Stellar Blade™ $59.99 61,289 93% 1.8M $110M (exactly $110,301,813) SHIFT UP Corporation
AI LIMIT $34.99 22,833 92% 685k $24M (exactly $23,967,800) Sense Games
Going Under older $19.99 2,702 92% 81k $1.6M (exactly $1,620,389) Aggro Crab
Hentai Femdom Sim: Femdom University older $34.99 348 79% 10k $365k (exactly $365,296) SaliaCoel
Deathbound older $29.99 216 68% 6.5k $194k (exactly $194,335) Trialforge Studio
Void Sols $14.99 347 95% 10k $156k (exactly $156,046) Finite Reflection Studios
Return older $15.99 195 86% 5.9k $94k (exactly $93,542) Dead Unicorn
Fallback older $9.99 299 87% 9.0k $90k (exactly $89,610) Endroad
Biomass older $14.99 94 85% 2.8k $42k (exactly $42,272) Final Scene dev
Last Vanguard $14.99 77 81% 2.3k $35k (exactly $34,627) Cool Tapir Studios
Robots at Midnight $19.99 54 79% 1.6k $32k (exactly $32,384) Finish Line Games
Nitroglycerine! $4.99 146 86% 4.4k $22k (exactly $21,856) Avoidance
Mai: Child of Ages $14.99 34 88% 1.0k $15k (exactly $15,290) Chubby Pixel
Grim Axiom $7.99 37 67% 1.1k $8.9k (exactly $8,869) Rare Soup
Scarlet City of Devils $8.99 25 88% 750 $6.7k (exactly $6,742) Shademare
Vaporware Odyssey $9.99 9 88% 270 $2.7k (exactly $2,697) Goodaboutgames

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