Do I ship it?

Games › Stealth › Stealth + Perma Death

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Perma Death Stealth game?

Stealth + Perma Death

Of 47 developers who shipped a Perma Death Stealth game 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.. 83 more are announced, ×3.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $1.8k, ×2.9 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $420; 1 in 20 cleared $2.6M, ×4192 the market median. Revenue is down 85% on the market; 83 games are announced against 26 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.9 times the market baseline, revenue down 85% on the market, 83 announced, ×3.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Stealth + Perma Death
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 47
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $629 → $2.1k → $3.6k → $2.7k → $51k → $629 → $150 (still earning) → $1.8k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Stealth + Perma Death: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 47
Bottom 30% $419 (exactly $419)
Median $1.8k (exactly $1,796)
Top 25% $27k (exactly $26,863)
Top 5% $2.6M (exactly $2,632,522)
Developers, 2 yr 47
Released games 123
Announced 83
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
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 down 85% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 11%, 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.

Stealth
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
Stealth, Perma Death; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Co-op, Online Co-Op
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $15.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, Atmospheric
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $15.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 96% positive over 355,991 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $420, median $1.8k, 1 in 4 over $26k, 1 in 20 over $2.6M.

3 in 10 developers made under $420. 7 in 10 of the 26 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 83 games are announced against 26 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.2 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Stealth with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + JRPGFair7 devs · median $1.3k · 12 announced
  2. + World War IIPoor odds11 devs · median $43k · 14 announced
  3. + LGBTQ+Poor odds19 devs · median $30k · 30 announced
  4. + Turn-Based CombatPoor odds8 devs · median $27k · 31 announced
  5. + WargamePoor odds10 devs · median $21k · 39 announced
  6. + DinosaursPoor odds10 devs · median $17k · 23 announced
  7. + Gun CustomizationPoor odds20 devs · median $13k · 63 announced
  8. + Base BuildingPoor odds21 devs · median $13k · 57 announced
  9. + Cold WarPoor odds7 devs · median $10k · 31 announced
  10. + HistoricalPoor odds32 devs · median $9.6k · 76 announced
  11. + MilitaryPoor odds43 devs · median $8.5k · 122 announced
  12. + WarPoor odds30 devs · median $7.6k · 89 announced

All 159 pairs on the Stealth page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

R.E.P.O. 2025 · EA · $102M Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days 2025 · EA · $6.8M Baldi's Basics Plus 2020 · EA · $3.3M Heat Signature 2017 · $3.1M Invisible, Inc. 2015 · $3.1M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
R.E.P.O. · EA $9.99 341,004 96% 10M $102M (exactly $102,198,899) semiwork
Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days · EA $24.99 9,049 89% 271k $6.8M (exactly $6,784,035) PikPok
Baldi's Basics Plus · EA older $9.99 10,895 97% 327k $3.3M (exactly $3,265,232) Basically Games
Heat Signature older $14.99 6,849 94% 205k $3.1M (exactly $3,079,995) Suspicious Developments
Invisible, Inc. older $19.99 5,096 91% 153k $3.1M (exactly $3,056,071) Klei Entertainment
Cyber Knights: Flashpoint $29.99 2,926 93% 88k $2.6M (exactly $2,632,522) Trese Brothers
Monstrum older $17.99 3,155 91% 95k $1.7M (exactly $1,702,753) Team Junkfish
Cogmind · EA older $24.99 1,560 95% 47k $1.2M (exactly $1,169,532) Grid Sage Games
Eldritch older $14.99 1,698 88% 51k $764k (exactly $763,591) Minor Key Games
Receiver older $4.99 2,603 85% 78k $390k (exactly $389,669) Wolfire Games
Paranoia Place: Escape Together $7.99 1,555 87% 47k $373k (exactly $372,734) Bloody Pixel Games
UNDERWARD $9.99 593 73% 18k $178k (exactly $177,722) INTENSE
Dig, Dig, Die $7.99 321 64% 9.6k $77k (exactly $76,944) Alice Games
Hired 2 Die $9.99 169 82% 5.1k $51k (exactly $50,649) Electric Monkeys
INTO EVIL · EA $14.99 106 92% 3.2k $48k (exactly $47,668) Mind's Eye Games
Deadly Delivery $9.99 152 89% 4.6k $46k (exactly $45,554) Flat Head Studio
The Left Behind $10.99 116 23% 3.5k $38k (exactly $38,245) Extrude

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