Do I ship it?

Games › Survival › Survival + Inventory Management

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Inventory Management Survival game?

Survival + Inventory Management

Of 176 developers who shipped an Inventory Management Survival game 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.. 393 more are announced, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $2.1k, ×3.3 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $360k, ×587 the market median. Revenue is up 180% on the market; 393 games are announced against 126 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.3 times the market baseline, revenue up 180% on the market, 393 announced, ×3.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Survival + Inventory Management
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 176
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $5.1k → $11k → $809 → $1.4k → $1.1k → $2.1k → $2.5k (still earning) → $1.4k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Survival + Inventory Management: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 176
Bottom 30% $599 (exactly $599)
Median $2.1k (exactly $2,098)
Top 25% $12k (exactly $12,199)
Top 5% $369k (exactly $368,852)
Developers, 2 yr 176
Released games 405
Announced 393
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $7.99

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 180% on the market, supply 140% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 10%, 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
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Inventory Management
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high 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, Inventory Management; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Crafting, Adventure
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, First-Person
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 82% positive over 365,991 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $600, median $2.1k, 1 in 4 over $12k, 1 in 20 over $360k.

3 in 10 developers made under $600. 8 in 10 of the 55 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 393 games are announced against 126 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Survival with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + FMVStrong odds14 devs · median $74k · 10 announced
  2. + Social DeductionFair31 devs · median $6.2k · 35 announced
  3. + Word GameFair22 devs · median $2.1k · 29 announced
  4. + CatsFair33 devs · median $1.2k · 34 announced
  5. + CollectathonFair77 devs · median $1.0k · 84 announced
  6. + IdlerFair96 devs · median $836 · 99 announced
  7. + Auto BattlerFair79 devs · median $807 · 90 announced
  8. + IncrementalFair101 devs · median $599 · 130 announced
  9. + DogsFair20 devs · median $535 · 19 announced
  10. + Martial ArtsLong shot19 devs · median $419 · 17 announced
  11. + Boomer ShooterLong shot39 devs · median $359 · 32 announced
  12. + DiplomacyPoor odds16 devs · median $100k · 28 announced

All 234 pairs on the Survival page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

ARC Raiders 2025 · $359M ARK: Survival Ascended 2023 · EA · $144M Marathon 2026 · $54M Resident Evil 4 (2005) 2014 · $47M Stranded: Alien Dawn 2023 · $10M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
ARC Raiders $39.99 299,346 82% 9.0M $359M (exactly $359,125,396) Embark Studios
ARK: Survival Ascended · EA older $44.99 106,761 60% 3.2M $144M (exactly $144,095,322) Studio Wildcard, Grove Street Games, In… (Studio Wildcard, Grove Street Games, Instinct Games)
Marathon $39.99 44,919 81% 1.3M $54M (exactly $53,889,324) Bungie
Resident Evil 4 (2005) older $19.99 78,502 94% 2.4M $47M (exactly $47,077,649) Capcom
Stranded: Alien Dawn older $34.99 9,715 84% 291k $10M (exactly $10,197,836) Haemimont Games
Road to Vostok · EA $19.99 8,646 84% 259k $5.2M (exactly $5,185,006) Road to Vostok Ltd.
Blood West older $24.99 6,132 90% 184k $4.6M (exactly $4,597,160) Hyperstrange
Home Behind 2 older $19.99 6,585 86% 198k $3.9M (exactly $3,949,024) TPP Studio
Daymare: 1998 older $29.99 3,445 69% 103k $3.1M (exactly $3,099,466) Invader Studios
Survive the Nights $19.99 4,719 68% 142k $2.8M (exactly $2,829,984) a2z Interactive
Astrometica · EA $19.99 2,912 82% 87k $1.7M (exactly $1,746,326) BeryMery
Survival Log $10.99 2,709 82% 81k $893k (exactly $893,157) Midnight Workshop
Scavland · EA $19.99 800 81% 24k $480k (exactly $479,760) NoShadow
Cargo Hunters · EA $19.99 739 82% 22k $443k (exactly $443,178) Order Of Meta
Valorborn · EA $24.99 492 60% 15k $369k (exactly $368,852) Laps Games
Heat Death: Survival Train · EA $11.99 709 77% 21k $255k (exactly $255,027) Mass Game Devs

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