Games › Souls-like › Souls-like + Lovecraftian
Should I ship a Lovecraftian Souls-like?
Souls-like + Lovecraftian
Only 17 developers shipped a Lovecraftian Souls-like 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, Hell is Us, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 40 more are announced, ×4.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $14k, ×9.4 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $4.9k; 1 in 20 cleared $6.4M, ×4284 the market median. Revenue is down 20% on the market; 40 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $4.9k (exactly $4,895) |
|---|---|
| Median | $14k (exactly $14,086) |
| Top 25% | $39k (exactly $38,580) |
| Top 5% | $6.4M (exactly $6,417,216) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 17 |
| Released games | 68 |
| Announced | 40 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $13.99 |
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 20% 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 low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Souls-like
- effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
- Lovecraftian
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Souls-like; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Adventure, Open World
- Price point
- $13.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Story Rich, Cute
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $13.99.
The top 10 games average 92% positive over 17,952 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $4.9k. 7 in 10 of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 40 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.4 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Souls-like with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Dating SimStrong odds
- + Visual NovelFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + JRPGFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + PsychologicalFair
- + Walking SimulatorFair
- + Precision PlatformerLong shot
- + Score AttackLong shot
- + WarPoor odds
- + Turn-Based TacticsPoor odds
- + RomancePoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Remnant: From the Ashes | older | $39.99 | 47,193 84% | 1.4M | $57M (exactly $56,617,442) | Gunfire Games |
| | Hell is Us | $49.99 | 4,279 83% | 128k | $6.4M (exactly $6,417,216) | Rogue Factor | |
| | Fear & Hunger 2: Termina | older | $11.99 | 14,232 97% | 427k | $5.1M (exactly $5,119,250) | Miro Haverinen |
| | Blood West | older | $24.99 | 6,132 90% | 184k | $4.6M (exactly $4,597,160) | Hyperstrange |
| | BLACK SOULS | $13.99 | 7,337 95% | 220k | $3.1M (exactly $3,079,339) | Eeny, meeny, miny, moe? | |
| | Hellpoint | older | $34.99 | 2,582 76% | 77k | $2.7M (exactly $2,710,325) | Cradle Games |
| | BLACK SOULS II | $13.99 | 5,277 97% | 158k | $2.2M (exactly $2,214,757) | Eeny, meeny, miny, moe? | |
| | Death Trash | · EA older | $19.99 | 3,460 91% | 104k | $2.1M (exactly $2,074,962) | Crafting Legends |
| | Eldest Souls | older | $19.99 | 3,125 76% | 94k | $1.9M (exactly $1,874,062) | Fallen Flag Studio |
| | Fade to Silence | older | $29.99 | 1,032 62% | 31k | $928k (exactly $928,490) | Black Forest Games |
| | Katanaut | $17.99 | 484 88% | 15k | $261k (exactly $261,215) | Voidmaw | |
| | Tombwater | $24.99 | 282 92% | 8.5k | $211k (exactly $211,415) | Moth Atlas | |
| | Cafe DReAMLAND | $12.99 | 99 93% | 3.0k | $39k (exactly $38,580) | めとこ | |
| | Nullpoint Protocol | $14.99 | 62 61% | 1.9k | $28k (exactly $27,881) | Everbloom Games | |
| | RAVENSBURG | $14.99 | 45 95% | 1.4k | $20k (exactly $20,236) | Lilian Duleroux | |
| | Dead Wells: The Devil Fragment | $14.99 | 40 70% | 1.2k | $18k (exactly $17,988) | Echo7Project | |
| | The Shaman's Ark | $9.99 | 47 97% | 1.4k | $14k (exactly $14,086) | Amortiz Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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