Do I ship it?

Games › Survival Horror › Survival Horror + Life Sim

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Life Sim Survival Horror?

Survival Horror + Life Sim

Of 27 developers who shipped a Life Sim 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.. 60 more are announced, ×4.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $15k, ×24 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $450k, ×726 the market median. Revenue is down 55% on the market; 60 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 24.3 times the market baseline, revenue down 55% on the market, 60 announced, ×4.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Survival Horror + Life Sim
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 27
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.7k → $598 → $88k → $1.5k → $124k (still earning) → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Survival Horror + Life Sim: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 27
Bottom 30% $598 (exactly $598)
Median $15k (exactly $15,269)
Top 25% $88k (exactly $87,812)
Top 5% $456k (exactly $455,838)
Developers, 2 yr 27
Released games 64
Announced 60
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 down 55% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 6%, 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
Life Sim
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 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 Horror, Life Sim; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Adventure, Exploration
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
7 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, Dark, First-Person
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 83% positive over 5,427 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 $15k, 1 in 4 over $87k, 1 in 20 over $450k.

3 in 10 developers made under $600. 3 in 10 of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 60 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.0 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

Chinese Parents 2018 · $6.9M [Chilla's Art] The Closing Shift | 閉店事件 2022 · $532k HELLMART 2026 · $465k Static Dread: The Lighthouse 2025 · $456k ORDER 13 2025 · $330k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Chinese Parents older $9.99 23,168 91% 695k $6.9M (exactly $6,943,450) 墨鱼玩游戏
[Chilla's Art] The Closing Shift | 閉店事件 older $5.99 2,963 87% 89k $532k (exactly $532,451) Chilla's Art
HELLMART $14.99 1,034 77% 31k $465k (exactly $464,990) GAZE IN GAMES
Static Dread: The Lighthouse $10.90 1,394 90% 42k $456k (exactly $455,838) solarsuit.games
ORDER 13 $8.99 1,224 87% 37k $330k (exactly $330,113) Cybernetic Walrus
The Test: Final Revelation older $1.99 5,286 97% 159k $316k (exactly $315,574) Randumb Studios
Nested Lands · EA $14.99 482 73% 14k $217k (exactly $216,755) 1M Bits Horde
Wasteland Bites $9.99 440 93% 13k $132k (exactly $131,868) CosmicDev
Corner Shop: NightShift $19.99 206 84% 6.2k $124k (exactly $123,538) Live Motion Games
Road Maintenance Simulator older $24.99 159 57% 4.8k $119k (exactly $119,202) Caipirinha Games
SEX EXIT 🔞 $9.99 293 62% 8.8k $88k (exactly $87,812) OneHand Games
The Sex Curse 💋 $9.99 114 88% 3.4k $34k (exactly $34,166) Lust Desires 🖤
True Nightmare - Roadside Сafe $7.99 135 80% 4.1k $32k (exactly $32,360) Frost Fox Studios
Lust Night💋 $9.99 105 72% 3.2k $31k (exactly $31,468) Play and Cum 💦

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