Do I ship it?

Games › Survival Horror › Survival Horror + Gothic

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Gothic Survival Horror?

Survival Horror + Gothic

Of 24 developers who shipped a Gothic Survival Horror 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.. 61 more are announced, ×4.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $840, ×1.3 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $420; 1 in 20 cleared $270k, ×439 the market median. Revenue is down 60% on the market; 61 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.3 times the market baseline, revenue down 60% on the market, 61 announced, ×4.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Survival Horror + Gothic
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 24
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.2k → $628 → $1.6k → $12k → $838 → $1.5k → $3.2k (still earning) → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Survival Horror + Gothic: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 24
Bottom 30% $420 (exactly $420)
Median $838 (exactly $838)
Top 25% $25k (exactly $24,588)
Top 5% $276k (exactly $275,862)
Developers, 2 yr 24
Released games 74
Announced 61
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $8.99

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 60% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 4%, 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 medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Survival Horror
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Gothic
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Survival Horror; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Action, Action RPG
Price point
$8.99 typical · top 25% priced $16.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, Retro, 1990's
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $16.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.

The top 10 games average 85% positive over 3,030 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $420, median $840, 1 in 4 over $24k, 1 in 20 over $270k.

3 in 10 developers made under $420. 8 in 10 of the 13 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 61 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.7 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Survival Horror with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + FMVFair13 devs · median $31k · 14 announced
  2. + DrivingFair20 devs · median $4.9k · 25 announced
  3. + Tower DefenseFair14 devs · median $1.9k · 16 announced
  4. + IncrementalFair16 devs · median $1.6k · 19 announced
  5. + SnowFair17 devs · median $1.2k · 15 announced
  6. + SportsFair5 devs · median $959 · 3 announced
  7. + Outbreak SimFair22 devs · median $958 · 24 announced
  8. + 3D PlatformerFair111 devs · median $539 · 104 announced
  9. + Boomer ShooterFair27 devs · median $449 · 28 announced
  10. + Turn-Based CombatPoor odds10 devs · median $64k · 42 announced
  11. + LGBTQ+Poor odds17 devs · median $52k · 21 announced
  12. + Spectacle fighterPoor odds8 devs · median $52k · 12 announced

All 159 pairs on the Survival Horror page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Amnesia: Rebirth 2020 · $7.1M Fear & Hunger 2: Termina 2022 · $5.1M Gloomwood 2022 · EA · $4.5M Mad Father 2016 · $1.9M At Dead Of Night 2020 · $1.6M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Amnesia: Rebirth older $29.99 7,894 77% 237k $7.1M (exactly $7,102,232) Frictional Games
Fear & Hunger 2: Termina older $11.99 14,232 97% 427k $5.1M (exactly $5,119,250) Miro Haverinen
Gloomwood · EA older $19.99 7,495 95% 225k $4.5M (exactly $4,494,752) Dillon Rogers, David Szymanski, Nate Be… (Dillon Rogers, David Szymanski, Nate Berens, Thomas Porta)
Mad Father older $9.99 6,229 97% 187k $1.9M (exactly $1,866,831) sen
At Dead Of Night older $15.99 3,289 94% 99k $1.6M (exactly $1,577,733) Baggy Cat Ltd.
Alisa older $17.99 1,358 89% 41k $733k (exactly $732,913) Casper Croes
Witch Hunt older $9.99 2,291 88% 69k $687k (exactly $686,613) Gua
Sin Spire $9.99 1,580 88% 47k $474k (exactly $473,526) Krasue Games
Clock Tower: Rewind $19.99 460 88% 14k $276k (exactly $275,862) WayForward, Limited Run Games
Tower of Kalemonvo $14.99 453 83% 14k $204k (exactly $203,714) osur
Peregrino $16.99 174 65% 5.2k $89k (exactly $88,688) Inverge Studios
Dead Format $16.99 161 81% 4.8k $82k (exactly $82,062) Katanalevy
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
Maku $2.99 36 75% 1.1k $3.2k (exactly $3,229) whelp
The Deathmind $2.99 35 74% 1.1k $3.1k (exactly $3,140) Etnabyte Games
SUBMERSIBLE $8.99 10 80% 300 $2.7k (exactly $2,697) CJB Games

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