Do I ship it?

Games › Souls-like › Souls-like + Mythology

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Mythological Souls-like?

Souls-like + Mythology

Of 39 developers who shipped a Mythological 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.. 97 more are announced, ×4.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $9.9k, ×6.6 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $2.4k; 1 in 20 cleared $58M, ×39048 the market median. Revenue is up 180% on the market; 97 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 6.6 times the market baseline, revenue up 180% on the market, 97 announced, ×4.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Souls-like + Mythology
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 39
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $19k → $10k → $539k → $51k → $2.0k → $8.9k → $14k (still earning) → $135k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Souls-like + Mythology: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 39
Bottom 30% $2.4k (exactly $2,394)
Median $9.9k (exactly $9,893)
Top 25% $135k (exactly $134,796)
Top 5% $58M (exactly $58,493,849)
Developers, 2 yr 39
Released games 94
Announced 97
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 180% on the market, supply 50% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 15%, 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 low: the lowest rating among its tags.

Souls-like
effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
Mythology
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
Systems
Souls-like; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Hack and Slash, RPG
Price point
$12.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, 3D, Difficult
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $12.99.

The top 10 games average 93% positive over 155,112 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $2.4k, median $9.9k, 1 in 4 over $130k, 1 in 20 over $58M.

3 in 10 developers made under $2.4k. 7 in 10 of the 21 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 97 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.0 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Souls-like with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Dating SimStrong odds17 devs · median $34k · 8 announced
  2. + Visual NovelFair25 devs · median $27k · 17 announced
  3. + Artificial IntelligenceFair13 devs · median $22k · 17 announced
  4. + JRPGFair31 devs · median $8.6k · 35 announced
  5. + IncrementalFair9 devs · median $3.9k · 10 announced
  6. + PsychologicalFair17 devs · median $1.8k · 17 announced
  7. + Walking SimulatorFair17 devs · median $1.3k · 7 announced
  8. + Precision PlatformerLong shot49 devs · median $776 · 46 announced
  9. + Score AttackLong shot18 devs · median $599 · 21 announced
  10. + WarPoor odds8 devs · median $451k · 22 announced
  11. + Turn-Based TacticsPoor odds12 devs · median $88k · 21 announced
  12. + RomancePoor odds10 devs · median $35k · 16 announced

All 122 pairs on the Souls-like page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Black Myth: Wukong 2024 · $1.6B God of War 2022 · $195M Hades II 2025 · $103M God of War Ragnarök 2024 · $58M Gujian3(古剑奇谭三) 2018 · $37M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Black Myth: Wukong older $59.99 881,186 96% 26M $1.6B (exactly $1,585,870,444) Game Science
God of War older $49.99 129,712 95% 3.9M $195M (exactly $194,529,086) Santa Monica Studio, Jetpack Interactive
Hades II $29.99 114,419 95% 3.4M $103M (exactly $102,942,774) Supergiant Games
God of War Ragnarök $59.99 32,502 89% 975k $58M (exactly $58,493,849) Santa Monica Studio, Jetpack Interactive
Gujian3(古剑奇谭三) older $29.99 40,829 85% 1.2M $37M (exactly $36,733,851) 上海烛龙信息科技有限公司, Aurogon Shanghai
Nine Sols older $29.99 40,138 94% 1.2M $36M (exactly $36,112,159) RedCandleGames
SWORN $24.99 3,779 80% 113k $2.8M (exactly $2,833,116) Windwalk Games
Asterigos: Curse of the Stars older $34.99 2,550 78% 77k $2.7M (exactly $2,676,735) Acme Gamestudio
VALKYRIE ELYSIUM older $59.99 1,021 61% 31k $1.8M (exactly $1,837,494) Square Enix, Soleil Ltd.
Achilles: Legends Untold older $24.99 2,149 77% 64k $1.6M (exactly $1,611,105) Dark Point Games
YAR: Forgotten Throne $19.99 1,283 89% 38k $769k (exactly $769,415) Honor Games
Stonemachia $19.99 1,244 95% 37k $746k (exactly $746,027) Crossfall Games
Bylina $24.99 715 72% 21k $536k (exactly $536,036) Far Far Games
The Spirit of the Samurai $19.99 413 59% 12k $248k (exactly $247,676) Digital Mind Games
The Axis Unseen $24.99 309 75% 9.3k $232k (exactly $231,657) Just Purkey Games
The Relic: First Guardian $34.99 167 43% 5.0k $175k (exactly $175,300) Project Cloud Games
Gurei $15.99 281 83% 8.4k $135k (exactly $134,796) Lobo Sagaz studio

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