Do I ship it?

Games › Party-Based RPG › Party-Based RPG + Perma Death

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Perma Death Party-Based RPG?

Party-Based RPG + Perma Death

Of 34 developers who shipped a Perma Death Party-Based RPG 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.. 73 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $2.5k, ×4.1 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.2k; 1 in 20 cleared $2.0M, ×3209 the market median. Revenue is up 470% on the market; 73 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 4.1 times the market baseline, revenue up 470% on the market, 73 announced, ×3.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Party-Based RPG + Perma Death
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 34
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $13k → $9.0k → $1.8k → $2.4k → $219k → $1.2k → $21k (still earning) → $1.9k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Party-Based RPG + Perma Death: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 34
Bottom 30% $1.2k (exactly $1,166)
Median $2.5k (exactly $2,545)
Top 25% $29k (exactly $28,781)
Top 5% $2.0M (exactly $2,015,524)
Developers, 2 yr 34
Released games 77
Announced 73
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $10.99

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 470% on the market, supply 140% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 5%, 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.

Party-Based RPG
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Perma Death
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
Party-Based RPG, Perma Death; 9 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Strategy, Tactical RPG
Price point
$10.99 typical · top 25% priced $25.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Pixel Graphics, 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $25.99 or above; the middle game at $10.99.

The top 10 games average 87% positive over 11,767 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $1.2k, median $2.5k, 1 in 4 over $28k, 1 in 20 over $2.0M.

3 in 10 developers made under $1.2k. 7 in 10 of the 10 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 73 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Party-Based RPG with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Board GameFair24 devs · median $18k · 29 announced
  2. + Point & ClickFair17 devs · median $2.5k · 20 announced
  3. + 2D PlatformerFair55 devs · median $599 · 42 announced
  4. + Hidden ObjectFair15 devs · median $479 · 16 announced
  5. + Martial ArtsPoor odds5 devs · median $230k · 16 announced
  6. + Dating SimPoor odds13 devs · median $49k · 25 announced
  7. + SandboxPoor odds23 devs · median $34k · 71 announced
  8. + BuildingPoor odds12 devs · median $32k · 37 announced
  9. + AutomationPoor odds14 devs · median $21k · 28 announced
  10. + Turn-BasedPoor odds67 devs · median $19k · 76 announced
  11. + Base BuildingPoor odds19 devs · median $19k · 51 announced
  12. + IncrementalPoor odds18 devs · median $15k · 45 announced

All 111 pairs on the Party-Based RPG page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Darkest Dungeon® II 2023 · $29M Cyber Knights: Flashpoint 2025 · $2.6M Aethermancer 2025 · EA · $2.0M Dark Deity 2021 · $2.0M Lost Eidolons 2022 · $1.8M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Darkest Dungeon® II older $39.99 24,249 74% 727k $29M (exactly $29,091,525) Red Hook Studios
Cyber Knights: Flashpoint $29.99 2,926 93% 88k $2.6M (exactly $2,632,522) Trese Brothers
Aethermancer · EA $25.99 2,585 91% 78k $2.0M (exactly $2,015,524) moi rai games
Dark Deity older $24.99 2,652 72% 80k $2.0M (exactly $1,988,204) Sword & Axe LLC
Lost Eidolons older $34.99 1,727 69% 52k $1.8M (exactly $1,812,832) Ocean Drive Studio, Inc.
Dwarves: Glory, Death and Loot $14.99 2,588 82% 78k $1.2M (exactly $1,163,824) Hamma Studios
Dungeon Settlers · EA $24.99 1,117 79% 34k $837k (exactly $837,415) CanOpener
Those Who Rule $17.99 1,116 89% 33k $602k (exactly $602,305) Eldin Turulja
Goblin Stone older $24.99 735 52% 22k $551k (exactly $551,030) Orc Chop Games
Bloodgrounds $19.99 561 77% 17k $336k (exactly $336,432) Exordium Games
Escape The Mad Empire · EA $17.99 406 88% 12k $219k (exactly $219,118) XperimentalZ Games
Hive Blight · EA $12.49 367 94% 11k $138k (exactly $137,515) OptizOnion
Letalis $14.99 64 95% 1.9k $29k (exactly $28,781) Monkiato
Slaves of Magic $24.99 37 78% 1.1k $28k (exactly $27,739) Amethyst Dreamers

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