Games › Open World Survival Craft › Open World Survival Craft + Post-apocalyptic
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.
| 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.
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
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
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.
What kills games here
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.
Adjacent niches
Open World Survival Craft with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + AutomationFair
- + Co-opPoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
- + Immersive SimPoor odds
- + PhysicsPoor odds
- + Colony SimPoor odds
- + MedievalPoor odds
- + ShooterPoor odds
- + PvPPoor odds
- + Sci-fiPoor odds
- + Character CustomizationPoor odds
- + RPGPoor odds
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.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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