Games › Perma Death › Perma Death + Mythology
Should I ship a Mythological Perma Death game?
Perma Death + Mythology
Of 26 developers who shipped a Mythological Perma Death game 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.. 42 more are announced, ×2.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $720, ×1.1 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $2.8M, ×4511 the market median. Revenue is up 1100% on the market; 42 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $179 (exactly $179) |
|---|---|
| Median | $716 (exactly $716) |
| Top 25% | $26k (exactly $26,074) |
| Top 5% | $2.8M (exactly $2,833,116) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 26 |
| Released games | 58 |
| Announced | 42 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $8.99 |
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 1100% on the market, supply 60% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 10%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Perma Death
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Mythology
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Perma Death; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Roguelike, Roguelite
- Price point
- $8.99 typical · top 25% priced $25.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, Difficult, Hand-drawn
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $25.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.
The top 10 games average 94% positive over 121,706 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $180. 8 in 10 of the 13 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 42 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Perma Death with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + LGBTQ+Strong odds
- + Turn-BasedFair
- + Roguelike DeckbuilderFair
- + Creature CollectorFair
- + Mystery DungeonFair
- + PiratesFair
- + Traditional RoguelikeFair
- + Interactive FictionFair
- + Precision PlatformerFair
- + Time ManagementFair
- + Visual NovelFair
- + 3D PlatformerFair
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Hades | older | $24.99 | 285,748 97% | 8.6M | $214M (exactly $214,225,276) | Supergiant Games |
| | Hades II | $29.99 | 114,419 95% | 3.4M | $103M (exactly $102,942,774) | Supergiant Games | |
| | Noita | older | $19.99 | 81,149 95% | 2.4M | $49M (exactly $48,665,055) | Nolla Games |
| | SWORN | $24.99 | 3,779 80% | 113k | $2.8M (exactly $2,833,116) | Windwalk Games | |
| | Aethermancer | · EA | $25.99 | 2,585 91% | 78k | $2.0M (exactly $2,015,524) | moi rai games |
| | Spirit Realm | · EA older | $18.18 | 1,379 76% | 41k | $752k (exactly $752,107) | 深圳市灵境互娱科技有限公司 |
| | Okhlos: Omega | older | $12.99 | 633 78% | 19k | $247k (exactly $246,680) | Coffee Powered Machine |
| | Asura: Vengeance Edition | older | $9.99 | 555 85% | 17k | $166k (exactly $166,334) | Ogre Head Studio |
| | Exodus Borealis | older | $19.99 | 243 91% | 7.3k | $146k (exactly $145,727) | Smug Marmot Studios |
| | Infinite Tao | older | $3.99 | 852 79% | 26k | $102k (exactly $101,984) | insomnia |
| | Trakonius | · EA | $9.99 | 305 84% | 9.2k | $91k (exactly $91,408) | Edvar Studio |
| | Spear Song | · EA | $14.99 | 170 88% | 5.1k | $76k (exactly $76,449) | Divovision Games |
| | Ancient Cultivatrix | $8.99 | 240 67% | 7.2k | $65k (exactly $64,728) | 五条虾仁(5 shrimps) | |
| | Dive The Depths | $9.99 | 87 72% | 2.6k | $26k (exactly $26,074) | Frizuo, Starpixel Studios | |
| | Talespinner | $14.99 | 53 71% | 1.6k | $24k (exactly $23,834) | Flash Cat Games | |
| | Seth | $12.99 | 36 77% | 1.1k | $14k (exactly $14,029) | Chaotic Games | |
| | Aksun | · EA | $11.99 | 32 78% | 960 | $12k (exactly $11,510) | Wayway Inc |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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