Games › Souls-like › Souls-like + Metroidvania
Should I ship a Metroidvania Souls-like?
Souls-like + Metroidvania
Of 102 developers who shipped a Metroidvania Souls-like 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.. 335 more are announced, ×5.2 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 $3.4k; 1 in 20 cleared $1.5M, ×1064 the market median. Revenue is up 420% on the market; 335 games are announced against 64 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $3.4k (exactly $3,355) |
|---|---|
| Median | $14k (exactly $14,086) |
| Top 25% | $137k (exactly $137,331) |
| Top 5% | $1.6M (exactly $1,594,186) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 102 |
| Released games | 304 |
| Announced | 335 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $12.99 |
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 420% on the market, supply 70% more developers than 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
- Metroidvania
- 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, Metroidvania; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Exploration, RPG
- Price point
- $12.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Atmospheric, Difficult
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $12.99.
The top 10 games average 89% positive over 432,575 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $3.4k. 7 in 10 of the 47 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 335 games are announced against 64 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Souls-like with a different second tag, 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
Hollow Knight: Silksong 2025 · $232M 
Hollow Knight 2017 · $226M 
STAR WARS Jedi: Fallen Order™ 2019 · $184M 
Ori and the Will of the Wisps 2020 · $122M 
Dead Cells 2018 · $117M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Hollow Knight: Silksong | $19.99 | 386,977 89% | 12M | $232M (exactly $232,070,107) | Team Cherry | |
| | Hollow Knight | older | $14.99 | 502,960 96% | 15M | $226M (exactly $226,181,112) | Team Cherry |
| | STAR WARS Jedi: Fallen Order™ | older | $39.99 | 153,782 88% | 4.6M | $184M (exactly $184,492,265) | Respawn Entertainment |
| | Ori and the Will of the Wisps | older | $29.99 | 136,019 96% | 4.1M | $122M (exactly $122,376,294) | Moon Studios GmbH |
| | Dead Cells | older | $24.99 | 156,263 97% | 4.7M | $117M (exactly $117,150,371) | Motion Twin |
 | Blasphemous | older | $24.99 | 54,724 90% | 1.6M | $41M (exactly $41,026,583) | The Game Kitchen |
 | Nine Sols | older | $29.99 | 40,138 94% | 1.2M | $36M (exactly $36,112,159) | RedCandleGames |
 | Rain World | older | $24.99 | 46,871 94% | 1.4M | $35M (exactly $35,139,189) | Videocult |
 | ENDER LILIES: Quietus of the Knights | older | $24.99 | 43,092 93% | 1.3M | $32M (exactly $32,306,072) | Live Wire, Adglobe |
 | Skul: The Hero Slayer | older | $19.99 | 50,801 93% | 1.5M | $30M (exactly $30,465,360) | SOUTHPAW GAMES |
 | ENDER MAGNOLIA: Bloom in the Mist | $24.99 | 17,143 95% | 514k | $13M (exactly $12,852,107) | Adglobe, Live Wire | |
 | Windblown | · EA | $24.99 | 9,066 88% | 272k | $6.8M (exactly $6,796,780) | Motion Twin |
 | Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree | $39.99 | 3,026 75% | 91k | $3.6M (exactly $3,630,292) | Primal Game Studio | |
 | MIO: Memories in Orbit | $19.99 | 4,300 83% | 129k | $2.6M (exactly $2,578,710) | Douze Dixièmes | |
 | SiNiSistar 2 | $14.99 | 3,545 90% | 106k | $1.6M (exactly $1,594,186) | Uu | |
 | GRIME II | $27.99 | 1,892 86% | 57k | $1.6M (exactly $1,588,712) | Clover Bite | |
 | Kotama and Academy Citadel | $19.99 | 2,542 80% | 76k | $1.5M (exactly $1,524,437) | Atomstring Games | |
 | Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter | $24.99 | 1,851 79% | 56k | $1.4M (exactly $1,387,695) | Odd Bug Studio | |
 | Journey of Realm：Dawn Dew | $10.99 | 2,233 97% | 67k | $736k (exactly $736,220) | 葱色兔兔/Scallion Rabbit |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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