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Should I ship a Loot Metroidvania?
Loot + Metroidvania
Only 8 developers shipped a Loot Metroidvania 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, The Girl from Arkanya, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 31 more are announced, ×7.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: dead, for a 5 / 10 build.
Only 4 developers shipped this in the last year, under the 5 a verdict needs; over 2 years the middle one made $15k against a market of $630. 31 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $1.0k (exactly $1,048) |
|---|---|
| Median | $15k (exactly $15,467) |
| Top 25% | $26k (exactly $25,891) |
| Top 5% | $92k (exactly $91,754) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 8 |
| Released games | 30 |
| Announced | 31 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $8.99 |
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 flat on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 7%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Loot
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Metroidvania
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Loot, Metroidvania
- Price point
- $8.99 typical
Why players buy here
Fewer than 10 games in the last 2 years; sentiment and price figures use the all window.
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $10.99.
The top 10 games average 83% positive over 27,886 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.1k. 31 games are announced against 4 developers who shipped in the last year, ×7.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Loot with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Artificial IntelligenceStrong odds
- + Local Co-OpStrong odds
- + SteampunkStrong odds
- + CapitalismFair
- + Turn-Based StrategyFair
- + JRPGFair
- + EconomyFair
- + IdlerFair
- + CatsFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + Creature CollectorFair
- + CollectathonFair
Comparable games
Darksiders II Deathinitive Edition 2015 · $15M 
Dungreed 2018 · $2.7M 
Astalon: Tears of the Earth 2021 · $597k 
Flinthook 2017 · $270k 
7th Domain:Tree of Chaos 2024 · $149k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Darksiders II Deathinitive Edition | older | $29.99 | 16,313 78% | 489k | $15M (exactly $14,676,806) | Gunfire Games, Vigil Games, THQ Nordic |
| | Dungreed | older | $9.99 | 8,988 93% | 270k | $2.7M (exactly $2,693,704) | TEAM HORAY |
| | Astalon: Tears of the Earth | older | $19.99 | 995 92% | 30k | $597k (exactly $596,702) | LABS Works |
| | Flinthook | older | $14.99 | 600 73% | 18k | $270k (exactly $269,820) | Tribute Games Inc. |
| | 7th Domain:Tree of Chaos | older | $11.99 | 414 85% | 12k | $149k (exactly $148,916) | Lightimpact |
 | The Girl from Arkanya | $19.99 | 153 92% | 4.6k | $92k (exactly $91,754) | Arkanya Games | |
 | A Valley Without Wind | older | $14.99 | 198 64% | 5.9k | $89k (exactly $89,041) | Arcen Games |
 | Touhou Double Focus | older | $10.99 | 88 72% | 2.6k | $29k (exactly $29,014) | AQUASTYLE |
 | Queen of treasure isle | · EA | $8.99 | 96 94% | 2.9k | $26k (exactly $25,891) | gobou |
 | face the immortal | · EA | $17.99 | 41 92% | 1.2k | $22k (exactly $22,128) | DY |
 | HOPE 01 | · EA | $11.99 | 43 88% | 1.3k | $15k (exactly $15,467) | Bending Boy Games |
 | Nothing Beyond This Point | $4.99 | 14 100% | 420 | $2.1k (exactly $2,096) | Dieuwt | |
 | Horde of Viscount | $4.99 | 7 100% | 210 | $1.0k (exactly $1,048) | Swiggins Studios | |
 | Cozy Together ☕ | · EA | $0.99 | 6 66% | 180 | $178 (exactly $178) | Jofer's Games |
 | Sarah's Great Adventure | $2.99 | 1 0% | 30 | $90 (exactly $90) | 川流游戏 |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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