Do I ship it?

Games › Survival Horror › Survival Horror + Management

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Management Survival Horror?

Survival Horror + Management

Of 40 developers who shipped a Management 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.. 76 more are announced, ×3.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $2.1k, ×3.3 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $740k, ×1193 the market median. Revenue is up 180% on the market; 76 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.3 times the market baseline, revenue up 180% on the market, 76 announced, ×3.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Survival Horror + Management
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 40
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $34k → $17k → $300 → $2.1k → $449 → $748 → $5.8k (still earning) → $5.6k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Survival Horror + Management: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 40
Bottom 30% $449 (exactly $449)
Median $2.1k (exactly $2,063)
Top 25% $12k (exactly $12,199)
Top 5% $749k (exactly $749,486)
Developers, 2 yr 40
Released games 96
Announced 76
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $5.99

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 180% on the market, supply 50% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 7%, 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
Management
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 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, Management; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Exploration, Adventure, Action
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, Dark
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 87% positive over 12,320 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $450, median $2.1k, 1 in 4 over $12k, 1 in 20 over $740k.

3 in 10 developers made under $450. 8 in 10 of the 18 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 76 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.2 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

Barotrauma 2023 · $65M Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days 2025 · EA · $6.8M Happy's Humble Burger Farm 2021 · $1.0M Genesis Alpha One Deluxe Edition 2020 · $939k DarkSwitch 2026 · $749k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Barotrauma older $34.99 61,905 94% 1.9M $65M (exactly $64,981,678) FakeFish, Undertow Games
Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days · EA $24.99 9,049 89% 271k $6.8M (exactly $6,784,035) PikPok
Happy's Humble Burger Farm older $19.99 1,704 93% 51k $1.0M (exactly $1,021,889) Scythe Dev Team
Genesis Alpha One Deluxe Edition older $19.99 1,566 73% 47k $939k (exactly $939,130) Radiation Blue
DarkSwitch $34.99 714 77% 21k $749k (exactly $749,486) Cyber Temple
DIVE or DIE - Children of Rain $17.99 1,255 91% 38k $677k (exactly $677,323) Drop Rate Studio
Rebuild 3: Gangs of Deadsville older $14.99 1,486 86% 45k $668k (exactly $668,254) Northway Games, Sarah Northway
Tin Can older $19.99 1,073 85% 32k $643k (exactly $643,478) Tin Can Studio
Atrio: The Dark Wild older $19.99 563 78% 17k $338k (exactly $337,631) Isto Inc.
Save Room - Organization Puzzle older $2.99 2,033 97% 61k $182k (exactly $182,360) Fractal Projects
Wasteland Bites $9.99 440 93% 13k $132k (exactly $131,868) CosmicDev
The Last FARMER $12.99 258 56% 7.7k $101k (exactly $100,543) Geekon
Peregrino $16.99 174 65% 5.2k $89k (exactly $88,688) Inverge Studios
No Escape from Madness $11.99 197 60% 5.9k $71k (exactly $70,861) qiqin
Find or be Found $7.99 117 69% 3.5k $28k (exactly $28,045) Studio Downstairs
Besmirch · EA $9.99 79 97% 2.4k $24k (exactly $23,676) Gangru Games
Project Cobalt $10.99 37 67% 1.1k $12k (exactly $12,199) OxygenStudio

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