Games › Perma Death › Perma Death + Hacking
Should I ship a Hacking Perma Death game?
Perma Death + Hacking
Only 9 developers shipped a Hacking Perma Death 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, Welcome to the Game III, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 20 more are announced, ×3.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $630, ×1.3 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $120; 1 in 20 cleared $380k, ×818 the market median. Revenue is up 699105% on the market; 20 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year.
not enough cohorts to draw
| Bottom 30% | $120 (exactly $120) |
|---|---|
| Median | $628 (exactly $628) |
| Top 25% | $3.9k (exactly $3,896) |
| Top 5% | $389k (exactly $388,606) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 9 |
| Released games | 25 |
| Announced | 20 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| Typical price | $4.99 |
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 100% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 4%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Perma Death
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Hacking
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Perma Death
- Price point
- $4.99 typical
Why players buy here
Fewer than 10 games in the last 2 years; sentiment and price figures use the all window.
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 8,941 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $120. 20 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Perma Death with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + LGBTQ+Strong odds
- + Turn-BasedFair
- + Roguelike DeckbuilderFair
- + Creature CollectorFair
- + Mystery DungeonFair
- + PiratesFair
- + Traditional RoguelikeFair
- + Interactive FictionFair
- + Precision PlatformerFair
- + Time ManagementFair
- + Visual NovelFair
- + 3D PlatformerFair
Comparable games
Deadlink 2023 · $2.2M 
Cogmind 2017 · EA · $1.2M 
Uplink 2006 · $637k 
Scrutinized 2020 · $394k 
Welcome to the Game III 2026 · $389k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Deadlink | older | $24.99 | 2,871 90% | 86k | $2.2M (exactly $2,152,389) | Gruby Entertainment |
| | Cogmind | · EA older | $24.99 | 1,560 95% | 47k | $1.2M (exactly $1,169,532) | Grid Sage Games |
| | Uplink | older | $11.99 | 1,771 89% | 53k | $637k (exactly $637,029) | Introversion Software |
| | Scrutinized | older | $9.99 | 1,313 89% | 39k | $394k (exactly $393,506) | Reflect Studios |
| | Welcome to the Game III | $19.99 | 648 78% | 19k | $389k (exactly $388,606) | Reflect Studios | |
 | ATOMINE | older | $9.99 | 324 74% | 9.7k | $97k (exactly $97,103) | Broken Arms Games |
 | Conglomerate 451 | older | $19.99 | 145 62% | 4.4k | $87k (exactly $86,956) | RuneHeads |
 | 868-BACK | $19.99 | 122 98% | 3.7k | $73k (exactly $73,163) | Michael Brough | |
 | Deadnaut | older | $9.99 | 128 67% | 3.8k | $38k (exactly $38,362) | Screwfly Studios |
 | Lilith Odyssey | older | $19.99 | 59 76% | 1.8k | $35k (exactly $35,382) | Chaystar Unlimited LLC |
 | The Office Killer | $9.99 | 13 92% | 390 | $3.9k (exactly $3,896) | IceMoon Games | |
 | RedLantern | 赤提灯 | $4.99 | 9 66% | 270 | $1.3k (exactly $1,347) | KM Studios | |
 | Backrooms: The Yellow Dream | $2.99 | 7 71% | 210 | $628 (exactly $628) | Crow Games | |
 | TAU-09 | $3.99 | 3 100% | 90 | $359 (exactly $359) | axsys_crash | |
 | Hacker vs IT | $3.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $120 (exactly $120) | Sapphirus Production | |
 | STACK-eRZ | · EA | $9.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | Smokey |
 | VerseRunner: Escape | $4.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | Muteppo Software |
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.