Games › Survival Horror › Survival Horror + Mystery
Should I ship a Mystery Survival Horror?
Survival Horror + Mystery
Of 604 developers who shipped a Mystery 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.. 958 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.2k, ×1.9 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $420; 1 in 20 cleared $200k, ×322 the market median. Revenue is up 20% on the market; 958 games are announced against 345 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $419 (exactly $419) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.2k (exactly $1,199) |
| Top 25% | $6.3k (exactly $6,294) |
| Top 5% | $202k (exactly $201,915) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 604 |
| Released games | 1,448 |
| Announced | 958 |
| 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 20% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 11%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Mystery
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Survival Horror; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration, Action
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, First-Person, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 94% positive over 352,335 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $420. 8 in 10 of the 313 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 958 games are announced against 345 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Survival Horror with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVFair
- + DrivingFair
- + Tower DefenseFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + SnowFair
- + SportsFair
- + Outbreak SimFair
- + 3D PlatformerFair
- + Boomer ShooterFair
- + Turn-Based CombatPoor odds
- + LGBTQ+Poor odds
- + Spectacle fighterPoor odds
Comparable games
PEAK 2025 · $72M 
SOMA 2015 · $42M 
DREDGE 2023 · $36M 
Onimusha: Way of the Sword 2026 · $24M 
Ghostwire: Tokyo 2022 · $23M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | PEAK | $7.99 | 301,964 94% | 9.1M | $72M (exactly $72,380,771) | Team PEAK | |
| | SOMA | older | $29.99 | 46,772 95% | 1.4M | $42M (exactly $42,080,768) | Frictional Games |
| | DREDGE | older | $24.99 | 47,624 95% | 1.4M | $36M (exactly $35,703,713) | Black Salt Games |
| | Onimusha: Way of the Sword | $69.99 | 11,279 89% | 338k | $24M (exactly $23,682,516) | CAPCOM Co., Ltd. | |
| | Ghostwire: Tokyo | older | $59.99 | 12,954 83% | 389k | $23M (exactly $23,313,314) | Tango Gameworks |
 | Alan Wake | older | $14.99 | 45,662 89% | 1.4M | $21M (exactly $20,534,201) | Remedy Entertainment |
 | SIGNALIS | older | $19.99 | 30,601 96% | 918k | $18M (exactly $18,351,420) | rose-engine |
 | Content Warning | older | $7.99 | 72,444 93% | 2.2M | $17M (exactly $17,364,827) | Zorro, Wilnyl, Philip, thePetHen, Skog |
 | Bendy and the Ink Machine | older | $19.99 | 26,232 90% | 787k | $16M (exactly $15,731,330) | Joey Drew Studios |
 | Demonologist | older | $19.99 | 18,886 85% | 567k | $11M (exactly $11,325,934) | Clock Wizard Games |
 | Look Outside | $9.99 | 13,586 98% | 408k | $4.1M (exactly $4,071,724) | Francis Coulombe | |
 | Shift At Midnight | $9.99 | 10,147 88% | 304k | $3.0M (exactly $3,041,056) | Bun Muen | |
 | Enigma of Fear | $29.99 | 3,045 95% | 91k | $2.7M (exactly $2,739,586) | Dumativa, Cellbit | |
 | Crisol: Theater of Idols | $17.99 | 4,103 85% | 123k | $2.2M (exactly $2,214,389) | Vermila Studios | |
 | The Sinking City 2 | $49.99 | 1,410 83% | 42k | $2.1M (exactly $2,114,577) | Frogwares | |
 | Slitterhead | $49.99 | 1,145 78% | 34k | $1.7M (exactly $1,717,156) | Bokeh Game Studio lnc. | |
 | Tormented Souls 2 | $29.99 | 1,675 88% | 50k | $1.5M (exactly $1,506,998) | Dual Effect | |
 | Murky Divers | $8.99 | 3,981 87% | 119k | $1.1M (exactly $1,073,676) | Embers |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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