Games › Survival › Survival + Mars
Should I ship a Mars Survival game?
Survival + Mars
Only 16 developers shipped a Mars Survival game 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, Occupy Mars: The Game, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 24 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.8k, ×2.9 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $2.4M, ×3888 the market median. Revenue is down 70% on the market; 24 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $150 (exactly $150) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.8k (exactly $1,798) |
| Top 25% | $268k (exactly $267,617) |
| Top 5% | $2.4M (exactly $2,441,786) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 16 |
| Released games | 59 |
| Announced | 24 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 70% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 8%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Survival
- Price point
- $9.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 10 games average 74% positive over 5,094 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 24 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Survival with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Social DeductionFair
- + Word GameFair
- + CatsFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + DogsFair
- + Martial ArtsLong shot
- + Boomer ShooterLong shot
- + DiplomacyPoor odds
Comparable games
Per Aspera 2020 · $3.7M 
DOOM 3 2012 · $2.7M 
Occupy Mars: The Game 2026 · $2.4M 
Terraformers 2023 · $1.8M 
Moons of Madness 2019 · $1.6M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Per Aspera | older | $29.99 | 4,105 76% | 123k | $3.7M (exactly $3,693,268) | Tlön Industries |
| | DOOM 3 | older | $9.99 | 9,133 85% | 274k | $2.7M (exactly $2,737,160) | id Software |
| | Occupy Mars: The Game | $29.99 | 2,714 68% | 81k | $2.4M (exactly $2,441,786) | ▲ Pyramid Games | |
| | Terraformers | older | $19.99 | 3,031 88% | 91k | $1.8M (exactly $1,817,691) | Asteroid Lab |
| | Moons of Madness | older | $24.99 | 2,189 77% | 66k | $1.6M (exactly $1,641,093) | Rock Pocket Games |
 | Tharsis | older | $14.99 | 1,438 71% | 43k | $647k (exactly $646,669) | Choice Provisions |
 | Take On Mars | older | $9.99 | 1,751 55% | 53k | $525k (exactly $524,775) | Bohemia Interactive |
 | Blossom: The Seed of Life | $16.99 | 1,011 88% | 30k | $515k (exactly $515,307) | Pebbledust Games | |
 | Calyx | · EA | $24.99 | 471 88% | 14k | $353k (exactly $353,109) | Studio 568 |
 | Stellar Settlers: Space Base Builder | $11.99 | 744 69% | 22k | $268k (exactly $267,617) | Tinymice Entertainment | |
 | Surviving Mars: Pioneer | $24.99 | 78 83% | 2.3k | $58k (exactly $58,477) | Bolverk Games | |
 | Dissent on Mars | $29.99 | 19 47% | 570 | $17k (exactly $17,094) | Michael Hicks, Gonçalo Antunes | |
 | XENO WIPEOUT! | $9.99 | 34 79% | 1.0k | $10k (exactly $10,190) | Rama Studio | |
 | debris | $9.99 | 6 16% | 180 | $1.8k (exactly $1,798) | Evar Space | |
 | Asymptote | $4.99 | 12 100% | 360 | $1.8k (exactly $1,796) | Crazish Games | |
 | Terraspace | $7.99 | 5 20% | 150 | $1.2k (exactly $1,198) | Black Apple |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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