Games › Souls-like › Souls-like + Perma Death
Should I ship a Perma Death Souls-like?
Souls-like + Perma Death
Of 35 developers who shipped a Perma Death 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.. 56 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $8.7k, ×5.8 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $2.7k; 1 in 20 cleared $2.8M, ×1891 the market median. Revenue is up 485% on the market; 56 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $2.6k (exactly $2,637) |
|---|---|
| Median | $8.7k (exactly $8,683) |
| Top 25% | $48k (exactly $47,668) |
| Top 5% | $2.8M (exactly $2,833,116) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 35 |
| Released games | 110 |
| Announced | 56 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 485% on the market, supply 35% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 9%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Perma Death
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Souls-like, Perma Death; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Action, Roguelike
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $16.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, Difficult, Isometric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $16.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 94% positive over 121,183 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $2.7k. 8 in 10 of the 16 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 56 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Souls-like with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Dating SimStrong odds
- + Visual NovelFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + JRPGFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + PsychologicalFair
- + Walking SimulatorFair
- + Precision PlatformerLong shot
- + Score AttackLong shot
- + WarPoor odds
- + Turn-Based TacticsPoor odds
- + RomancePoor odds
Comparable games
Hades II 2025 · $103M 
NECROPOLIS: BRUTAL EDITION 2016 · $3.3M 
SWORN 2025 · $2.8M 
ELDERBORN 2020 · $1.0M 
Tower Hunter: Erza's Trial 2019 · $1.0M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Hades II | $29.99 | 114,419 95% | 3.4M | $103M (exactly $102,942,774) | Supergiant Games | |
| | NECROPOLIS: BRUTAL EDITION | older | $29.99 | 3,696 63% | 111k | $3.3M (exactly $3,325,291) | Harebrained Schemes |
| | SWORN | $24.99 | 3,779 80% | 113k | $2.8M (exactly $2,833,116) | Windwalk Games | |
| | ELDERBORN | older | $14.99 | 2,229 87% | 67k | $1.0M (exactly $1,002,381) | Hyperstrange |
| | Tower Hunter: Erza's Trial | older | $17.99 | 1,852 70% | 56k | $1.0M (exactly $999,524) | IceSitruuna |
 | BELOW | older | $24.99 | 1,304 70% | 39k | $978k (exactly $977,609) | Capybara Games |
 | Corpse Keeper | older | $19.99 | 1,126 76% | 34k | $675k (exactly $675,262) | Melancholia Studio |
 | Spark in the Dark | · EA | $16.99 | 1,174 87% | 35k | $598k (exactly $598,388) | Stellar Fish |
 | Bad Rats: the Rats' Revenge | older | $1.99 | 7,062 77% | 212k | $422k (exactly $421,601) | Invent4 Entertainment |
 | Loot River | older | $24.99 | 355 69% | 11k | $266k (exactly $266,144) | straka.studio |
 | Shadow of the Depth | $14.99 | 448 69% | 13k | $201k (exactly $201,466) | ChillyRoom | |
 | Rogue Blight | $12.99 | 318 91% | 9.5k | $124k (exactly $123,925) | CodeRadGames | |
 | Trakonius | · EA | $9.99 | 305 84% | 9.2k | $91k (exactly $91,408) | Edvar Studio |
 | Lost Flame | $13.99 | 168 96% | 5.0k | $71k (exactly $70,510) | Bartosz Bojarowski | |
 | Dark PGT | $4.99 | 404 83% | 12k | $60k (exactly $60,479) | ZERO5GAMES | |
 | INTO EVIL | · EA | $14.99 | 106 92% | 3.2k | $48k (exactly $47,668) | Mind's Eye Games |
 | Succubus Heaven | $24.99 | 62 83% | 1.9k | $46k (exactly $46,481) | Chaos Gate |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.