Do I ship it?

GamesSurvival HorrorSurvival Horror + Mystery Dungeon

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Mystery Dungeon Survival Horror?

Survival Horror + Mystery Dungeon

Of 61 developers who shipped a Mystery Dungeon 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.. 57 more are announced, ×2.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $420 in the last 2 years and $480 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 6 / 10 build. 24 developers shipped in the last year and 57 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.7 times the market baseline, revenue up 35% on the market, 57 announced, ×2.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Survival Horror + Mystery Dungeon
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 61
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $538 → $958 → $449 → $5.4k → $120 → $1.6k → $359 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Survival Horror + Mystery Dungeon: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 61
Bottom 30% $120 (exactly $120)
Median $418 (exactly $418)
Top 25% $2.7k (exactly $2,697)
Top 5% $193k (exactly $193,423)
Developers, 2 yr 61
Released games 139
Announced 57
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $4.99

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 35% on the market, supply 35% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 6%, 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
Mystery Dungeon
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high 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, Mystery Dungeon; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Exploration, Adventure, Action
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Atmospheric, First-Person
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 83% positive over 3,818 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $120, median $420, 1 in 4 over $2.6k, 1 in 20 over $190k.

3 in 10 developers made under $120. Nearly all of the 40 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 57 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 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

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
The Classrooms · EA older $12.99 3,040 89% 91k $1.2M (exactly $1,184,688) Xefier Games, Hillcrest Games Inc.
Spark in the Dark · EA $16.99 1,174 87% 35k $598k (exactly $598,388) Stellar Fish
The Backrooms: Survival older $9.99 881 82% 26k $264k (exactly $264,036) RE:CODE
The Coma 2B: Catacomb $14.99 584 75% 18k $263k (exactly $262,625) Dvora Studio Co., Ltd.
The Light Remake older $4.99 1,462 87% 44k $219k (exactly $218,861) Носков Сергей
House of Necrosis $11.99 581 94% 17k $209k (exactly $208,986) Warkus
Unmourned $24.99 258 79% 7.7k $193k (exactly $193,423) Codebros Studio
PIT OF GOBLIN · EA $5.99 915 84% 27k $164k (exactly $164,426) Friendly Foe
Monsters Domain older $19.99 272 34% 8.2k $163k (exactly $163,118) G-DEVS.com
FATE: The Cursed King older $7.99 484 93% 15k $116k (exactly $116,015) WildTangent
SAVE · EA $11.99 91 48% 2.7k $33k (exactly $32,733) Influsion Inc.
Silent Slayer: Vault of the Vampire $19.99 41 70% 1.2k $25k (exactly $24,588) Schell Games
The Maze Survivor: The 9th Entrants $8.99 62 82% 1.9k $17k (exactly $16,721) 崔资坦独立游戏Triztan IndieGame
Forbidden Ground - Lair of Aooni - $10.99 47 48% 1.4k $15k (exactly $15,496) HYDE, Inc.
Slendrina Remake $3.99 65 63% 2.0k $7.8k (exactly $7,780) GearMech

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