Do I ship it?

GamesPerma DeathPerma Death + LGBTQ+

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an LGBTQ+ Perma Death game?

Perma Death + LGBTQ+

Only 15 developers shipped an LGBTQ+ Perma Death game 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, Hades II, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 7 more are announced.

Verdict: strong odds, for a 3 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $55k, ×115 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 7 in 10 cleared $2.9k. Revenue is up 790% on the market; 7 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year, ×0.9 per shipper.

Deciding numbers: median 114.9 times the market baseline, revenue up 790% on the market, 7 announced, ×0.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Perma Death + LGBTQ+
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 15
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.2k → $55k → $88k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Perma Death + LGBTQ+: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 15
Bottom 30% $3.0k (exactly $2,997)
Median $55k (exactly $54,573)
Top 25% $271k (exactly $271,169)
Top 5% $103M (exactly $102,942,774)
Developers, 2 yr 15
Released games 30
Announced 7
Effort 3 / 10
AI-buildability High
Typical price $12.99

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 790% on the market, supply 15% 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 high: the lowest rating among its tags.

Perma Death
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
LGBTQ+
effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
Systems
Perma Death; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelike, Roguelite, Action
Price point
$12.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, Difficult, Pixel Graphics
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $12.99.

The top 10 games average 95% positive over 118,320 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $3.0k, median $55k, 1 in 4 over $270k, 1 in 20 over $100M.

3 in 10 developers made under $3.0k. 4 in 10 of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 7 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Perma Death with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Turn-BasedFair49 devs · median $10k · 57 announced
  2. + Roguelike DeckbuilderFair65 devs · median $8.1k · 66 announced
  3. + Creature CollectorFair30 devs · median $5.3k · 33 announced
  4. + Mystery DungeonFair27 devs · median $2.7k · 29 announced
  5. + PiratesFair11 devs · median $2.1k · 14 announced
  6. + Traditional RoguelikeFair49 devs · median $1.8k · 55 announced
  7. + Interactive FictionFair27 devs · median $959 · 28 announced
  8. + Precision PlatformerFair46 devs · median $719 · 31 announced
  9. + Time ManagementFair49 devs · median $539 · 66 announced
  10. + Visual NovelFair21 devs · median $538 · 18 announced
  11. + 3D PlatformerFair36 devs · median $537 · 36 announced
  12. + PuzzleFair107 devs · median $536 · 110 announced

All 164 pairs on the Perma Death page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Hades older $24.99 285,748 97% 8.6M $214M (exactly $214,225,276) Supergiant Games
Hades II $29.99 114,419 95% 3.4M $103M (exactly $102,942,774) Supergiant Games
Pronoun Palace $19.84 1,249 99% 37k $743k (exactly $743,405) Cadence Petersen, Hazel Fackler
Battle Shapers $24.99 984 80% 30k $738k (exactly $737,705) Metric Empire
Bad Rats: the Rats' Revenge older $1.99 7,062 77% 212k $422k (exactly $421,601) Invent4 Entertainment
Majotori older $5.99 1,880 96% 56k $338k (exactly $337,836) Majorariatto
PEPPERED: an existential platformer $14.99 603 96% 18k $271k (exactly $271,169) Mostly Games
Starlight Revolver · EA $12.99 404 54% 12k $157k (exactly $157,439) Pahdo Labs
BroomSweeper $17.99 193 75% 5.8k $104k (exactly $104,162) BandsWithLegends
MidBoss older $14.99 214 84% 6.4k $96k (exactly $96,236) Kitsune Games
Project Songbird $14.99 195 85% 5.9k $88k (exactly $87,692) FYRE Games, Conner Rush
Hyperspace Deck Command $19.99 91 95% 2.7k $55k (exactly $54,573) Sleeper Games
Horny Haunts $4.99 118 56% 3.5k $18k (exactly $17,665) Naelstrof, Raliv, BigCozyOrca, Eugene
Minesweeper Together $2.99 64 95% 1.9k $5.7k (exactly $5,741) anchikai

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