Games › Survival Horror › Survival Horror + Hidden Object
Should I ship a Hidden Object Survival Horror?
Survival Horror + Hidden Object
Of 218 developers who shipped a Hidden Object 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.. 236 more are announced, ×2.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $750, ×1.2 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $270; 1 in 20 cleared $86k, ×138 the market median. Revenue is down 50% on the market; 236 games are announced against 113 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $269 (exactly $269) |
|---|---|
| Median | $748 (exactly $748) |
| Top 25% | $3.6k (exactly $3,596) |
| Top 5% | $87k (exactly $86,602) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 218 |
| Released games | 598 |
| Announced | 236 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| 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 down 50% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 10%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Hidden Object
- effort 2 / 10 · high · static scenes with click targets
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Survival Horror, Hidden Object; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration, Action
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, Atmospheric, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 82% positive over 8,626 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $270. 8 in 10 of the 132 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 236 games are announced against 113 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Survival Horror with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVFair
- + DrivingFair
- + Tower DefenseFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + SnowFair
- + SportsFair
- + Outbreak SimFair
- + 3D PlatformerFair
- + Boomer ShooterFair
- + Turn-Based CombatPoor odds
- + LGBTQ+Poor odds
- + Spectacle fighterPoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | 35MM | older | $8.99 | 3,508 71% | 105k | $946k (exactly $946,108) | Носков Сергей |
| | Echoes of the Living | · EA | $24.99 | 1,005 83% | 30k | $753k (exactly $753,448) | MoonGlint Studio |
| | Emissary Zero | $8.99 | 2,683 83% | 80k | $724k (exactly $723,605) | Rone Vine | |
| | GYLT | older | $19.99 | 907 95% | 27k | $544k (exactly $543,928) | Haven Media, Parallel Circles |
| | [Chilla's Art] The Closing Shift | 閉店事件 | older | $5.99 | 2,963 87% | 89k | $532k (exactly $532,451) | Chilla's Art |
| | Granny: Escape Together | $9.99 | 1,661 79% | 50k | $498k (exactly $497,802) | CreepyToad | |
| | IMSCARED | older | $3.99 | 3,464 95% | 104k | $415k (exactly $414,641) | Ivan Zanotti's MyMadnessWorks |
| | Prehistoric Hunt | · EA older | $17.99 | 678 84% | 20k | $366k (exactly $365,917) | Antiproto Studios |
| | Lunar Eclipse | · EA | $14.99 | 765 82% | 23k | $344k (exactly $344,020) | Black Rabbit's Tales |
| | True Fear: Forsaken Souls Part 1 | older | $8.99 | 1,108 92% | 33k | $299k (exactly $298,828) | Goblinz Enterprises Ltd |
| | True Fear: Forsaken Souls Part 3 | $9.99 | 650 92% | 20k | $195k (exactly $194,805) | Goblinz Enterprises Ltd | |
| | 10 Dead Doves | $24.99 | 195 88% | 5.9k | $146k (exactly $146,192) | Duonix Studios, Mark Byram II, Sean-Mic… (Duonix Studios, Mark Byram II, Sean-Michael Millard) | |
| | BodyRecords | · EA | $6.99 | 581 70% | 17k | $122k (exactly $121,836) | MIROWIN |
| | CAPTURED | $6.45 | 627 95% | 19k | $121k (exactly $121,324) | Puck Redflix | |
| | Don't Be Afraid 2 | $16.99 | 201 71% | 6.0k | $102k (exactly $102,450) | Eneida Games, Cat-astrophe Games | |
| | The Last FARMER | $12.99 | 258 56% | 7.7k | $101k (exactly $100,543) | Geekon |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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