Games › Survival Horror › Survival Horror + Idler
Should I ship an Idler Survival Horror?
Survival Horror + Idler
Only 9 developers shipped an Idler Survival Horror 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, 5 NIGHTS AT SHALUN 4: SCHOOL, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 15 more are announced, ×3.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.
Only 4 developers shipped this in the last year, under the 5 a verdict needs; over 2 years the middle one made $3.1k against a market of $630. 15 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $2.2k (exactly $2,156) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.1k (exactly $3,144) |
| Top 25% | $7.1k (exactly $7,128) |
| Top 5% | $32k (exactly $31,940) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 9 |
| Released games | 42 |
| Announced | 15 |
| 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 up 305% on the market, supply 20% fewer 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.
- Survival Horror
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Idler
- effort 1 / 10 · high · number growth curves and a UI
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Survival Horror, Idler
- 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 $9.99 or above; the middle game at $3.99.
The top 10 games average 84% positive over 2,527 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $2.2k. 8 in 10 of the 6 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 15 games are announced against 4 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Road Maintenance Simulator | older | $24.99 | 159 57% | 4.8k | $119k (exactly $119,202) | Caipirinha Games |
| | Joyville | older | $9.99 | 331 69% | 9.9k | $99k (exactly $99,201) | KudPlay Games |
| | KUNKUN Defender | older | $2.99 | 822 97% | 25k | $74k (exactly $73,733) | Seal |
| | Rabbit Hole | older | $7.99 | 264 78% | 7.9k | $63k (exactly $63,281) | Nikita Ustinov, Nikolay Lazarev |
| | 5 NIGHTS AT SHALUN 4: SCHOOL | $1.99 | 535 93% | 16k | $32k (exactly $31,940) | Team GZ, VADIM CHURILOV | |
| | Escape From Monster | older | $4.99 | 206 70% | 6.2k | $31k (exactly $30,838) | Thunder Games |
| | Mental Hospital VR | older | $9.99 | 60 70% | 1.8k | $18k (exactly $17,982) | Igor Migun |
| | Kittens Game | · EA | $7.99 | 72 94% | 2.2k | $17k (exactly $17,258) | Nuclear Unicorn |
| | Fire Place | older | $4.99 | 68 52% | 2.0k | $10k (exactly $10,180) | Kevin Maxon, Michael Bell, Pol Clarisso… (Kevin Maxon, Michael Bell, Pol Clarissou, Zoe Vartanian, Galen Drew) |
| | Lost Scale: Part One | older | $24.99 | 10 90% | 300 | $7.5k (exactly $7,497) | Danicy |
| | Your Friend's Mom | $0.99 | 240 72% | 7.2k | $7.1k (exactly $7,128) | nordska | |
| | Fatal Pursuit | $4.99 | 30 86% | 900 | $4.5k (exactly $4,491) | Oleksii Murashko | |
| | Slenderman: Shadow of the Forest | $4.99 | 21 38% | 630 | $3.1k (exactly $3,144) | BugTeam | |
| | Backrooms: Multiverse | · EA | $10.00 | 9 77% | 270 | $2.7k (exactly $2,700) | Misconcepter |
| | Mist | $5.99 | 12 75% | 360 | $2.2k (exactly $2,156) | Euphoria Games | |
| | Sect House | $0.99 | 30 60% | 900 | $891 (exactly $891) | Fireplay Studio | |
| | Glass Monsters | $3.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $120 (exactly $120) | SMAR Studio |
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.