Games › Perma Death › Perma Death + Roguelite
Should I ship a Perma Death Roguelite?
Perma Death + Roguelite
Of 442 developers who shipped a Perma Death Roguelite 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.. 821 more are announced, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.9k, ×4.0 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $240k, ×515 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 821 games are announced against 265 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $359 (exactly $359) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.9k (exactly $1,884) |
| Top 25% | $12k (exactly $12,171) |
| Top 5% | $245k (exactly $244,718) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 442 |
| Released games | 1,169 |
| Announced | 821 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 flat on the market, supply 50% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 7%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Perma Death
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Roguelite
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Perma Death, Roguelite; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelike, Strategy, Action Roguelike
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Difficult, Pixel Graphics
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 93% positive over 143,043 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $360. 8 in 10 of the 192 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 821 games are announced against 265 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Perma Death with a different second tag, 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
Hades 2020 · $214M 
Darkest Dungeon® 2016 · $106M 
Hades II 2025 · $103M 
Noita 2020 · $49M 
Darkest Dungeon® II 2023 · $29M | 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 |
| | Darkest Dungeon® | older | $24.99 | 140,790 91% | 4.2M | $106M (exactly $105,550,263) | Red Hook Studios |
| | 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 |
| | Darkest Dungeon® II | older | $39.99 | 24,249 74% | 727k | $29M (exactly $29,091,525) | Red Hook Studios |
 | FTL: Faster Than Light | older | $9.99 | 62,763 94% | 1.9M | $19M (exactly $18,810,071) | Subset Games |
 | Roboquest | older | $24.99 | 19,158 95% | 575k | $14M (exactly $14,362,753) | RyseUp Studios |
 | Peglin | older | $19.99 | 16,626 83% | 499k | $10M (exactly $9,970,612) | Red Nexus Games Inc. |
 | The Last Spell | older | $24.99 | 13,260 91% | 398k | $9.9M (exactly $9,941,022) | Ishtar Games |
 | Crab Champions | · EA older | $9.99 | 26,546 97% | 796k | $8.0M (exactly $7,955,836) | Noisestorm |
 | SWORN | $24.99 | 3,779 80% | 113k | $2.8M (exactly $2,833,116) | Windwalk Games | |
 | Void War | $19.99 | 3,653 94% | 110k | $2.2M (exactly $2,190,704) | Tundra | |
 | Everything is Crab: The Animal Evolution Roguelite | $9.99 | 6,876 76% | 206k | $2.1M (exactly $2,060,737) | Odd Dreams Digital | |
 | Aethermancer | · EA | $25.99 | 2,585 91% | 78k | $2.0M (exactly $2,015,524) | moi rai games |
 | Pathogenic | $9.99 | 4,145 92% | 124k | $1.2M (exactly $1,242,256) | Aberrant Labs | |
 | Dwarves: Glory, Death and Loot | $14.99 | 2,588 82% | 78k | $1.2M (exactly $1,163,824) | Hamma Studios | |
 | SpellRogue | $19.99 | 1,566 86% | 47k | $939k (exactly $939,130) | Guidelight Games | |
 | LONESTAR | $12.99 | 2,183 90% | 65k | $851k (exactly $850,715) | Math Tide | |
 | Pronoun Palace | $19.84 | 1,249 99% | 37k | $743k (exactly $743,405) | Cadence Petersen, Hazel Fackler |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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