Games › Perma Death › Perma Death + Fantasy
Should I ship a Fantasy Perma Death game?
Perma Death + Fantasy
Of 222 developers who shipped a Fantasy Perma Death game 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.. 380 more are announced, ×2.9 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 $360; 1 in 20 cleared $130k, ×290 the market median. Revenue is up 150% on the market; 380 games are announced against 133 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $359 (exactly $359) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.8k (exactly $1,798) |
| Top 25% | $12k (exactly $11,510) |
| Top 5% | $138k (exactly $137,515) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 222 |
| Released games | 595 |
| Announced | 380 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 150% on the market, supply 50% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 9%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Perma Death
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Fantasy
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Perma Death; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelike, Roguelite, RPG
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 83% positive over 7,611 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $360. 8 in 10 of the 98 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 380 games are announced against 133 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Perma Death with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + LGBTQ+Strong odds
- + Turn-BasedFair
- + Roguelike DeckbuilderFair
- + Creature CollectorFair
- + Mystery DungeonFair
- + PiratesFair
- + Traditional RoguelikeFair
- + Interactive FictionFair
- + Precision PlatformerFair
- + Time ManagementFair
- + Visual NovelFair
- + 3D PlatformerFair
Comparable games
Darkest Dungeon® 2016 · $106M 
Peglin 2024 · $10M 
The Last Spell 2023 · $9.9M 
Wildfrost 2023 · $4.9M 
Mordheim: City of the Damned 2015 · $4.2M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Darkest Dungeon® | older | $24.99 | 140,790 91% | 4.2M | $106M (exactly $105,550,263) | Red Hook Studios |
| | Peglin | older | $19.99 | 16,626 83% | 499k | $10M (exactly $9,970,612) | Red Nexus Games Inc. |
| | The Last Spell | older | $24.99 | 13,260 91% | 398k | $9.9M (exactly $9,941,022) | Ishtar Games |
| | Wildfrost | older | $19.99 | 8,175 82% | 245k | $4.9M (exactly $4,902,548) | Deadpan Games, Gaziter |
| | Mordheim: City of the Damned | older | $19.99 | 7,056 72% | 212k | $4.2M (exactly $4,231,483) | Rogue Factor |
 | Astral Ascent | older | $24.99 | 5,408 94% | 162k | $4.1M (exactly $4,054,378) | Hibernian Workshop |
 | Day of Dragons | · EA older | $19.99 | 6,278 68% | 188k | $3.8M (exactly $3,764,917) | Beawesome Games |
 | NECROPOLIS: BRUTAL EDITION | older | $29.99 | 3,696 63% | 111k | $3.3M (exactly $3,325,291) | Harebrained Schemes |
 | Crown Trick | older | $19.99 | 4,509 85% | 135k | $2.7M (exactly $2,704,047) | NEXT Studios |
 | Dark Deity | older | $24.99 | 2,652 72% | 80k | $2.0M (exactly $1,988,204) | Sword & Axe LLC |
 | Dwarves: Glory, Death and Loot | $14.99 | 2,588 82% | 78k | $1.2M (exactly $1,163,824) | Hamma Studios | |
 | Dice Gambit | $24.99 | 1,080 87% | 32k | $810k (exactly $809,676) | Chromatic Ink | |
 | Spark in the Dark | · EA | $16.99 | 1,174 87% | 35k | $598k (exactly $598,388) | Stellar Fish |
 | Bloodgrounds | $19.99 | 561 77% | 17k | $336k (exactly $336,432) | Exordium Games | |
 | Soulslinger: Envoy of Death | $19.99 | 472 63% | 14k | $283k (exactly $283,058) | Elder Games | |
 | 9th Dawn Remake | $15.99 | 514 86% | 15k | $247k (exactly $246,566) | Valorware | |
 | The Monster Breeder | $29.99 | 272 91% | 8.2k | $245k (exactly $244,718) | Fantasy Creations | |
 | Escape The Mad Empire | · EA | $17.99 | 406 88% | 12k | $219k (exactly $219,118) | XperimentalZ Games |
 | Dawncaster | The RPG Cardventure | $19.99 | 274 81% | 8.2k | $164k (exactly $164,318) | Wanderlost Interactive | |
 | Astral Throne | $19.99 | 270 80% | 8.1k | $162k (exactly $161,919) | Zero Sun Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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