Games › Survival › Survival + Gothic
Should I ship a Gothic Survival game?
Survival + Gothic
Of 23 developers who shipped a Gothic 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.. 37 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.4k, ×3.8 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $120; 1 in 20 cleared $970k, ×1558 the market median. Revenue is down 40% on the market; 37 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $119 (exactly $119) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.4k (exactly $2,394) |
| Top 25% | $12k (exactly $11,976) |
| Top 5% | $978k (exactly $978,111) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 23 |
| Released games | 74 |
| Announced | 37 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $5.99 |
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 40% on the market, supply 90% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 12%, 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; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Action, Survival Horror
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, Dark, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 6,040 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $120. 9 in 10 of the 10 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 37 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | SUNLESS SEA | older | $18.99 | 7,625 83% | 229k | $4.3M (exactly $4,343,962) | Failbetter Games |
| | HENPRI | $24.99 | 3,903 96% | 117k | $2.9M (exactly $2,926,079) | Qruppo | |
| | Battlefleet Gothic: Armada (Classic) | older | $14.99 | 5,135 68% | 154k | $2.3M (exactly $2,309,210) | Tindalos Interactive |
| | Mad Father | older | $9.99 | 6,229 97% | 187k | $1.9M (exactly $1,866,831) | sen |
| | Vampires: Bloodlord Rising | · EA | $19.99 | 1,631 70% | 49k | $978k (exactly $978,111) | Mehuman Games |
| | Witch Hunt | older | $9.99 | 2,291 88% | 69k | $687k (exactly $686,613) | Gua |
| | Scarlet Tower | older | $6.99 | 1,831 81% | 55k | $384k (exactly $383,961) | Pyxeralia LLC |
| | Nosferatu: The Wrath of Malachi | older | $2.99 | 1,581 90% | 47k | $142k (exactly $141,816) | Idol FX |
| | Fury of Dracula: Digital Edition | older | $12.99 | 213 72% | 6.4k | $83k (exactly $83,006) | Nomad Games |
| | Dead Format | $16.99 | 161 81% | 4.8k | $82k (exactly $82,062) | Katanalevy | |
| | Flock of the Seraphim | $9.99 | 162 85% | 4.9k | $49k (exactly $48,551) | GuuchanDev | |
| | Silent Slayer: Vault of the Vampire | $19.99 | 41 70% | 1.2k | $25k (exactly $24,588) | Schell Games | |
| | When the Light Dies | $4.99 | 80 71% | 2.4k | $12k (exactly $11,976) | Electric Monkeys, Secret Level Studios | |
| | Tales of Eden: Midgard | $19.99 | 9 44% | 270 | $5.4k (exactly $5,397) | Steamtrack Studios | |
| | Seven Blasphemies | $9.99 | 17 100% | 510 | $5.1k (exactly $5,095) | Crit42 Studio | |
| | UNSEEN LAND: INTO THE MIST | · EA | $13.99 | 12 41% | 360 | $5.0k (exactly $5,036) | NetOps Inc. |
| | CrimSaw | $4.99 | 24 87% | 720 | $3.6k (exactly $3,593) | SkyBrave |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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