Do I ship it?

Games › Survival › Survival + Level Editor

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Level Editor Survival game?

Survival + Level Editor

Of 21 developers who shipped a Level Editor 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.. 30 more are announced.

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

The middle developer here made $3.1k, ×4.9 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $9.8M, ×15622 the market median. Revenue is down 90% on the market; 30 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 4.9 times the market baseline, revenue down 90% on the market, 30 announced, ×2.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Survival + Level Editor
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 21
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $21k → $60 → $28k → $3.1k → $599 (still earning) → $3.4k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Survival + Level Editor: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 21
Bottom 30% $449 (exactly $449)
Median $3.1k (exactly $3,055)
Top 25% $28k (exactly $28,059)
Top 5% $9.8M (exactly $9,810,329)
Developers, 2 yr 21
Released games 72
Announced 30
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 down 90% on the market, supply 150% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 18%, 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
Level Editor
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium 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, Level Editor; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Co-op, Online Co-Op, PvE
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 92% positive over 51,980 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $450, median $3.1k, 1 in 4 over $28k, 1 in 20 over $9.8M.

3 in 10 developers made under $450. 9 in 10 of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 30 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year.

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

Timberborn 2026 · $40M Diplomacy is Not an Option 2024 · $9.8M Far Cry® 2 2008 · $5.2M Distance 2018 · $4.4M Rise to Ruins 2019 · $3.3M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Timberborn $34.99 38,529 95% 1.2M $40M (exactly $40,443,891) Mechanistry
Diplomacy is Not an Option $29.99 10,904 85% 327k $9.8M (exactly $9,810,329) Door 407
Far Cry® 2 older $9.99 17,359 75% 521k $5.2M (exactly $5,202,492) Ubisoft Montreal
Distance older $24.99 5,832 93% 175k $4.4M (exactly $4,372,250) Refract
Rise to Ruins older $14.99 7,234 87% 217k $3.3M (exactly $3,253,130) Raymond Doerr
Contagion older $9.99 10,042 75% 301k $3.0M (exactly $3,009,587) Monochrome, Inc
Creeper World 3: Arc Eternal older $14.99 4,098 96% 123k $1.8M (exactly $1,842,871) Knuckle Cracker
Zombie Night Terror older $12.99 3,352 93% 101k $1.3M (exactly $1,306,274) NoClip
Unrailed 2: Back on Track $19.99 1,794 88% 54k $1.1M (exactly $1,075,862) Indoor Astronaut
Guts and Glory older $14.99 1,885 82% 57k $848k (exactly $847,684) HakJak
Backrooms Media $7.99 546 39% 16k $131k (exactly $130,876) NPK Games
Voxile · EA $17.99 78 69% 2.3k $42k (exactly $42,097) VoxRay Games, Inc.
Dustwind: Resistance $19.90 47 80% 1.4k $28k (exactly $28,059) Dustwind Studios, Z-Software
Project Breakout $9.99 26 65% 780 $7.8k (exactly $7,792) maxkerpen
Exipelago $24.99 9 66% 270 $6.7k (exactly $6,747) reiti.net
Biletide $5.99 24 100% 720 $4.3k (exactly $4,313) Formic Games
Hollow Hide $4.99 23 95% 690 $3.4k (exactly $3,443) Renderise

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