Should I ship a Gothic Loot game?
Loot + Gothic
Only 10 developers shipped a Gothic Loot 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, Shadow Dungeon, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 25 more are announced, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $7.2k, ×11 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $410k, ×662 the market median. Momentum is unreadable here, too few recent games; 25 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $599 (exactly $599) |
|---|---|
| Median | $7.2k (exactly $7,182) |
| Top 25% | $204k (exactly $203,714) |
| Top 5% | $416k (exactly $415,684) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 10 |
| Released games | 28 |
| Announced | 25 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 too few recent games to read momentum, supply 300% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 11%, 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
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Loot
- Price point
- $9.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 7 games average 78% positive over 2,538 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $600. 25 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Loot with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Artificial IntelligenceStrong odds
- + Local Co-OpStrong odds
- + SteampunkStrong odds
- + CapitalismFair
- + Turn-Based StrategyFair
- + JRPGFair
- + EconomyFair
- + IdlerFair
- + CatsFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + Creature CollectorFair
- + CollectathonFair
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing | older | $14.99 | 7,720 83% | 232k | $3.5M (exactly $3,471,684) | NeocoreGames |
| | The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing: Final Cut | older | $44.99 | 1,959 76% | 59k | $2.6M (exactly $2,644,062) | NeocoreGames |
| | The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing II | older | $14.99 | 1,954 70% | 59k | $879k (exactly $878,714) | NeocoreGames |
| | Witch Hunt | older | $9.99 | 2,291 88% | 69k | $687k (exactly $686,613) | Gua |
| | Shadow Dungeon | $9.99 | 1,387 78% | 42k | $416k (exactly $415,684) | OO Cat | |
| | Concubine | · EA | $14.99 | 517 81% | 16k | $232k (exactly $232,495) | Upgrade Entertainment |
| | Anima : The Reign of Darkness | older | $11.99 | 613 69% | 18k | $220k (exactly $220,496) | Redeev |
| | Tower of Kalemonvo | $14.99 | 453 83% | 14k | $204k (exactly $203,714) | osur | |
| | Shirone: the Dragon Girl | older | $14.99 | 117 99% | 3.5k | $53k (exactly $52,615) | Oimoland |
| | Ash & Rust | $19.99 | 85 63% | 2.6k | $51k (exactly $50,974) | Ash and Rust Studios | |
| | Obnulenie | $3.99 | 60 63% | 1.8k | $7.2k (exactly $7,182) | Artsiom Tsiareshka | |
| | Dark Fairy Tale | $3.99 | 34 38% | 1.0k | $4.1k (exactly $4,070) | Fun Workshop | |
| | Azoth & Ignis | $9.99 | 2 100% | 60 | $599 (exactly $599) | Vespertine Digital | |
| | Spiral to Despair | $2.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | RewingAge | |
| | Ironwake | · EA | $7.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | Seahorse Games |
| | HORDELIGHT | $1.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | AGAMED GAMES |
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.