Games › Survival › Survival + Farming
Should I ship a Farming Survival game?
Survival + Farming
Of 24 developers who shipped a Farming Survival 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.. 35 more are announced, ×3.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $7.2k, ×11 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $3.0k; 1 in 20 cleared $4.4M, ×7085 the market median. Revenue is down 20% on the market; 35 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $3.0k (exactly $2,997) |
|---|---|
| Median | $7.2k (exactly $7,195) |
| Top 25% | $362k (exactly $362,008) |
| Top 5% | $4.4M (exactly $4,449,470) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 24 |
| Released games | 45 |
| Announced | 35 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $12.99 |
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 20% on the market, supply 40% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 4%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Survival; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Base Building, Building, Crafting
- Price point
- $12.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 7 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $12.99.
The top 10 games average 84% positive over 40,765 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $3.0k. 7 in 10 of the 15 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 35 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.9 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Survival with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Social DeductionFair
- + Word GameFair
- + CatsFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + DogsFair
- + Martial ArtsLong shot
- + Boomer ShooterLong shot
- + DiplomacyPoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Farthest Frontier | $34.99 | 24,444 86% | 733k | $26M (exactly $25,658,867) | Crate Entertainment | |
| | Len's Island | $24.99 | 5,935 82% | 178k | $4.4M (exactly $4,449,470) | Flow Studio | |
| | Solarpunk™ | $22.99 | 3,492 81% | 105k | $2.4M (exactly $2,408,432) | Cyberwave | |
| | Aloft | · EA | $24.99 | 3,057 82% | 92k | $2.3M (exactly $2,291,833) | Astrolabe Interactive Inc. |
| | Mirthwood | $24.99 | 2,242 69% | 67k | $1.7M (exactly $1,680,827) | Bad Ridge Games | |
| | Among Trees | older | $14.99 | 2,071 68% | 62k | $931k (exactly $931,329) | FJRD Interactive |
| | Russian Village Simulator | older | $29.99 | 889 84% | 27k | $800k (exactly $799,833) | VD Games, PropilGames |
| | It Lurks Below | older | $19.99 | 1,168 81% | 35k | $700k (exactly $700,450) | Graybeard Games |
| | Zombie Graveyard Simulator | $14.99 | 805 89% | 24k | $362k (exactly $362,008) | threeW | |
| | Balrum | older | $14.99 | 728 78% | 22k | $327k (exactly $327,382) | Balcony Softworks |
| | Backroom Company | $8.99 | 608 81% | 18k | $164k (exactly $163,978) | Hypercent Inc. | |
| | Elsewhere | · EA | $15.99 | 80 96% | 2.4k | $38k (exactly $38,376) | Four White Cats |
| | Russian Village Simulator 2 | $15.99 | 61 70% | 1.8k | $29k (exactly $29,262) | VD Games, PropilGames | |
| | Wild Planet | · EA | $19.99 | 41 63% | 1.2k | $25k (exactly $24,588) | MonkeyFactory Media |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.