Do I ship it?

Games › Looter Shooter › Looter Shooter + Survival Horror

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Survival Horror Looter Shooter?

Looter Shooter + Survival Horror

Of 30 developers who shipped a Survival Horror Looter Shooter 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.. 74 more are announced, ×5.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $990, ×0.7 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300. 74 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.3 per shipper, while revenue is up 20% on the market.

Deciding numbers: median 0.7 times the market baseline, revenue up 20% on the market, 74 announced, ×5.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Looter Shooter + Survival Horror
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 30
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $10k → $5.8k → $3.4k → $359 → $1.5k → $898 → $240 (still earning) → $15k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Looter Shooter + Survival Horror: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 30
Bottom 30% $299 (exactly $299)
Median $987 (exactly $987)
Top 25% $31k (exactly $31,468)
Top 5% $15M (exactly $15,047,482)
Developers, 2 yr 30
Released games 74
Announced 74
Effort 8 / 10
AI-buildability Low
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 up 20% on the market, supply 15% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 4%, 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 low: the lowest rating among its tags.

Looter Shooter
effort 8 / 10 · low · online co-op and a loot economy on top of a shooter
Survival Horror
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
8 / 10 · online systems, open world
Systems
Looter Shooter, Survival Horror; 9 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Shooter, Adventure
Price point
$8.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, First-Person
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.

The top 10 games average 57% positive over 87,616 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $300, median $990, 1 in 4 over $31k, 1 in 20 over $15M.

3 in 10 developers made under $300. 8 in 10 of the 16 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 74 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.3 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Looter Shooter with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + MechsFair13 devs · median $219k · 14 announced
  2. + Vehicular CombatFair11 devs · median $15k · 14 announced
  3. + IdlerFair16 devs · median $1.2k · 8 announced
  4. + 3D PlatformerLong shot23 devs · median $449 · 16 announced
  5. + Extraction ShooterPoor odds31 devs · median $71k · 73 announced
  6. + Online Co-OpPoor odds54 devs · median $25k · 136 announced
  7. + Co-opPoor odds56 devs · median $25k · 124 announced
  8. + Twin Stick ShooterPoor odds18 devs · median $16k · 44 announced
  9. + DystopianPoor odds14 devs · median $10k · 45 announced
  10. + Base BuildingPoor odds36 devs · median $9.1k · 74 announced
  11. + Character CustomizationPoor odds50 devs · median $9.0k · 151 announced
  12. + Inventory ManagementPoor odds27 devs · median $6.9k · 61 announced

All 90 pairs on the Looter Shooter page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Escape from Tarkov 2025 · $84M No More Room in Hell 2 2026 · $15M ZERO Sievert 2024 · $8.6M After the Fall® 2021 · $1.5M Urge 2021 · EA · $269k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Escape from Tarkov $49.99 55,824 49% 1.7M $84M (exactly $83,719,253) Battlestate Games
No More Room in Hell 2 $29.99 16,725 62% 502k $15M (exactly $15,047,482) Torn Banner Studios
ZERO Sievert $19.99 14,378 84% 431k $8.6M (exactly $8,622,487) CABO Studio
After the Fall® older $19.99 2,572 76% 77k $1.5M (exactly $1,542,428) Vertigo Games
Urge · EA older $17.99 499 90% 15k $269k (exactly $269,310) EnDrew
REQUISITION VR older $19.99 392 62% 12k $235k (exactly $235,082) Arcadia
Anarchy: Wolf's law older $9.99 768 76% 23k $230k (exactly $230,170) Anarchy Games
No Escape from Madness $11.99 197 60% 5.9k $71k (exactly $70,861) qiqin
Silent North · EA $19.99 100 29% 3.0k $60k (exactly $59,970) Combat Waffle Studios
Atomic Exile · EA $14.99 120 79% 3.6k $54k (exactly $53,964) Inferno Muse Interactive
Containment Initiative 2 $14.99 89 85% 2.7k $40k (exactly $40,023) Gwyn Games LLC
Dreadweave · EA $9.99 105 72% 3.2k $31k (exactly $31,468) DeadGrass Games
HOPE 01 · EA $11.99 43 88% 1.3k $15k (exactly $15,467) Bending Boy Games
Blood Bear $6.99 35 94% 1.1k $7.3k (exactly $7,340) Rabid Rodent Games

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