Do I ship it?

Games › Survival Horror › Survival Horror + Hack and Slash

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Hack and Slash Survival Horror?

Survival Horror + Hack and Slash

Of 38 developers who shipped a Hack and Slash 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.. 57 more are announced, ×3.2 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 $210; 1 in 20 cleared $460k, ×734 the market median. Revenue is down 65% on the market; 57 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.8 times the market baseline, revenue down 65% on the market, 57 announced, ×3.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Survival Horror + Hack and Slash
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 38
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $299 → $148 → $3.1k → $11k → $4.2k → $3.8k → $838 (still earning) → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Survival Horror + Hack and Slash: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 38
Bottom 30% $210 (exactly $210)
Median $2.4k (exactly $2,395)
Top 25% $8.8k (exactly $8,814)
Top 5% $461k (exactly $461,238)
Developers, 2 yr 38
Released games 110
Announced 57
Effort 6 / 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 down 65% on the market, supply 15% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 13%, 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
Hack and Slash
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 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, Hack and Slash; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Action-Adventure, Adventure
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Gore, Story Rich
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 89% positive over 15,619 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $210, median $2.4k, 1 in 4 over $8.8k, 1 in 20 over $460k.

3 in 10 developers made under $210. 8 in 10 of the 24 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 57 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.2 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Survival Horror with a different second tag, 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

Dying Light 2015 · $280M Killing Floor 2 2016 · $78M Onimusha: Way of the Sword 2026 · $24M How to Survive 2014 · $6.3M Onee Chanbara ORIGIN 2020 · $2.2M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Dying Light older $24.99 373,413 95% 11M $280M (exactly $279,947,726) Techland
Killing Floor 2 older $29.99 87,158 88% 2.6M $78M (exactly $78,416,053) Tripwire Interactive
Onimusha: Way of the Sword $69.99 11,279 89% 338k $24M (exactly $23,682,516) CAPCOM Co., Ltd.
How to Survive older $14.99 13,990 82% 420k $6.3M (exactly $6,291,303) Eko Software
Onee Chanbara ORIGIN older $59.99 1,217 75% 37k $2.2M (exactly $2,190,235) Tamsoft
Onimusha: Warlords older $19.99 2,843 93% 85k $1.7M (exactly $1,704,947) CAPCOM CO., LTD
Onimusha 2: Samurai's Destiny $29.99 663 85% 20k $597k (exactly $596,501) CAPCOM Co., Ltd.
Escape Dead Island older $14.99 1,261 60% 38k $567k (exactly $567,072) Fatshark
Butcher's Creek $9.99 1,539 94% 46k $461k (exactly $461,238) David Szymanski
Priest Simulator: Vampire Show $19.99 735 94% 22k $441k (exactly $440,779) Asmodev
The Bleakest Keep $9.99 719 90% 22k $215k (exactly $215,484) Cache of Bones
Tower of Kalemonvo $14.99 453 83% 14k $204k (exactly $203,714) osur
Sera's Adventure -Cave of Destruction- $18.99 76 53% 2.3k $43k (exactly $43,297) 渡里laboratory
Besmirch · EA $9.99 79 97% 2.4k $24k (exactly $23,676) Gangru Games
Phoenix's Faye $9.99 55 76% 1.7k $16k (exactly $16,484) BigFireball
TOLD GOD - The legacy of cthulhu $17.99 21 76% 630 $11k (exactly $11,334) Obsession studio

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