Do I ship it?

GamesOpen World Survival CraftOpen World Survival Craft + Post-apocalyptic

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Post-apocalyptic Open World Survival Craft?

Open World Survival Craft + Post-apocalyptic

Of 46 developers who shipped a Post-apocalyptic Open World Survival Craft 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.. 81 more are announced, ×3.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 9 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $85k, ×63 the market's $1.3k for a 9 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $15k; 1 in 20 cleared $7.3M, ×5436 the market median. Revenue is down 60% on the market; 81 games are announced against 25 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 63.1 times the market baseline, revenue down 60% on the market, 81 announced, ×3.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Open World Survival Craft + Post-apocalyptic
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 46
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $230k → $3.7k → $5.7k → $715k → $38k → $79k → $217k (still earning) → $22k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Open World Survival Craft + Post-apocalyptic: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 46
Bottom 30% $15k (exactly $14,992)
Median $85k (exactly $84,955)
Top 25% $543k (exactly $542,728)
Top 5% $7.3M (exactly $7,321,759)
Developers, 2 yr 46
Released games 134
Announced 81
Effort 9 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $14.99

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 down 60% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 8%, 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.

Open World Survival Craft
effort 9 / 10 · low · dedicated multiplayer servers over a huge content build
Post-apocalyptic
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
9 / 10 · studio only
Systems
Open World Survival Craft; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Survival, Base Building, Open World
Price point
$14.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $14.99.

The top 10 games average 78% positive over 92,850 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $15k, median $85k, 1 in 4 over $540k, 1 in 20 over $7.3M.

3 in 10 developers made under $15k. 3 in 10 of the 23 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 81 games are announced against 25 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.2 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Open World Survival Craft with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + AutomationFair28 devs · median $307k · 37 announced
  2. + Co-opPoor odds58 devs · median $515k · 127 announced
  3. + Online Co-OpPoor odds72 devs · median $217k · 139 announced
  4. + Immersive SimPoor odds14 devs · median $183k · 37 announced
  5. + PhysicsPoor odds8 devs · median $183k · 27 announced
  6. + Colony SimPoor odds11 devs · median $170k · 25 announced
  7. + MedievalPoor odds13 devs · median $154k · 37 announced
  8. + ShooterPoor odds25 devs · median $139k · 45 announced
  9. + PvPPoor odds22 devs · median $125k · 56 announced
  10. + Sci-fiPoor odds32 devs · median $124k · 76 announced
  11. + Character CustomizationPoor odds34 devs · median $116k · 60 announced
  12. + RPGPoor odds76 devs · median $96k · 165 announced

All 54 pairs on the Open World Survival Craft page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Rust older $39.99 1,167,920 87% 35M $1.4B (exactly $1,401,153,624) Facepunch Studios
7 Days to Die older $44.99 273,589 87% 8.2M $369M (exactly $369,263,073) The Fun Pimps
Dying Light older $24.99 373,413 95% 11M $280M (exactly $279,947,726) Techland
Project Zomboid · EA older $24.99 364,830 94% 11M $274M (exactly $273,513,051) The Indie Stone
Days Gone older $39.99 82,655 92% 2.5M $99M (exactly $99,161,204) Bend Studio
The Long Dark older $19.99 110,264 89% 3.3M $66M (exactly $66,125,321) Hinterland Studio Inc.
Deadside $24.99 34,560 76% 1.0M $26M (exactly $25,909,632) Bad Pixel
Miscreated older $29.99 23,050 66% 692k $21M (exactly $20,738,085) Entrada Interactive LLC
Sunkenland · EA older $19.99 20,536 80% 616k $12M (exactly $12,315,439) Vector3 Studio
SurrounDead · EA older $11.99 24,538 91% 736k $8.8M (exactly $8,826,319) Zurvivor
MISERY $12.99 20,015 85% 600k $7.8M (exactly $7,799,846) Platypus Entertainment
Forever Skies $29.99 8,138 78% 244k $7.3M (exactly $7,321,759) Far From Home
HumanitZ $19.99 11,155 74% 335k $6.7M (exactly $6,689,653) Yodubzz Studios
Survive the Nights $19.99 4,719 68% 142k $2.8M (exactly $2,829,984) a2z Interactive
I Am Future: Cozy Apocalypse Survival $19.99 4,011 83% 120k $2.4M (exactly $2,405,397) Mandragora
Survivalist: Invisible Strain $11.99 4,014 87% 120k $1.4M (exactly $1,443,836) Bob
IfSunSets · EA $19.99 2,284 74% 69k $1.4M (exactly $1,369,715) POLYMORPH
DUCKSIDE · EA $14.99 2,692 72% 81k $1.2M (exactly $1,210,592) tinyBuild Riga
ALL WILL FALL $29.99 1,262 76% 38k $1.1M (exactly $1,135,421) All Parts Connected

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