Do I ship it?

Games › Survival Horror › Survival Horror + Investigation

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Investigation Survival Horror?

Survival Horror + Investigation

Of 197 developers who shipped an Investigation 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.. 335 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 $630; 1 in 20 cleared $250k, ×399 the market median. Revenue is up 65% on the market; 335 games are announced against 109 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.3 times the market baseline, revenue up 65% on the market, 335 announced, ×3.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Survival Horror + Investigation
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 197
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.8k → $2.5k → $1.7k → $1.8k → $1.9k → $2.2k → $1.8k (still earning) → $2.3k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Survival Horror + Investigation: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 197
Bottom 30% $628 (exactly $628)
Median $2.1k (exactly $2,097)
Top 25% $9.3k (exactly $9,291)
Top 5% $250k (exactly $250,400)
Developers, 2 yr 197
Released games 522
Announced 335
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 up 65% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 11%, 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
Investigation
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 Horror, Investigation; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration, Action
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, First-Person, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 94% positive over 331,436 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $630, median $2.1k, 1 in 4 over $9.2k, 1 in 20 over $250k.

3 in 10 developers made under $630. 8 in 10 of the 107 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 335 games are announced against 109 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 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

PEAK 2025 · $72M Content Warning 2024 · $17M Demonologist 2023 · $11M Blair Witch 2019 · $5.8M Shift At Midnight 2026 · $3.0M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
PEAK $7.99 301,964 94% 9.1M $72M (exactly $72,380,771) Team PEAK
Content Warning older $7.99 72,444 93% 2.2M $17M (exactly $17,364,827) Zorro, Wilnyl, Philip, thePetHen, Skog
Demonologist older $19.99 18,886 85% 567k $11M (exactly $11,325,934) Clock Wizard Games
Blair Witch older $29.99 6,489 78% 195k $5.8M (exactly $5,838,153) Bloober Team SA
Shift At Midnight $9.99 10,147 88% 304k $3.0M (exactly $3,041,056) Bun Muen
Species: Unknown · EA $9.99 9,437 94% 283k $2.8M (exactly $2,828,269) WanadevStudio
Enigma of Fear $29.99 3,045 95% 91k $2.7M (exactly $2,739,586) Dumativa, Cellbit
Lust from Beyond older $19.99 4,057 81% 122k $2.4M (exactly $2,432,983) Movie Games Lunarium
Deadly Premonition: The Director's Cut older $24.99 3,243 65% 97k $2.4M (exactly $2,431,277) Rising Star Games
The Sinking City 2 $49.99 1,410 83% 42k $2.1M (exactly $2,114,577) Frogwares
Whisper Mountain Outbreak · EA $7.99 2,421 84% 73k $580k (exactly $580,314) Toge Productions
Lunar Eclipse · EA $14.99 765 82% 23k $344k (exactly $344,020) Black Rabbit's Tales
Clock Tower: Rewind $19.99 460 88% 14k $276k (exactly $275,862) WayForward, Limited Run Games
Dread Flats $5.99 1,453 83% 44k $261k (exactly $261,104) Ghostcase
DYSTHANASIA $24.99 334 88% 10k $250k (exactly $250,400) Madowaku Kobo

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