Games › Survival Horror › Survival Horror + Perma Death
Should I ship a Perma Death Survival Horror?
Survival Horror + Perma Death
Of 99 developers who shipped a Perma Death Survival Horror 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.. 159 more are announced, ×2.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $630, level with the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $370k, ×594 the market median. Revenue is down 55% on the market; 159 games are announced against 61 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $180 (exactly $180) |
|---|---|
| Median | $629 (exactly $629) |
| Top 25% | $5.5k (exactly $5,452) |
| Top 5% | $373k (exactly $372,734) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 99 |
| Released games | 234 |
| Announced | 159 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $4.99 |
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 55% on the market, supply 60% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 8%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Survival Horror
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Perma Death
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Survival Horror, Perma Death; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Exploration
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $11.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, First-Person, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $11.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 89% positive over 42,768 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $180. 7 in 10 of the 45 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 159 games are announced against 61 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Survival Horror with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVFair
- + DrivingFair
- + Tower DefenseFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + SnowFair
- + SportsFair
- + Outbreak SimFair
- + 3D PlatformerFair
- + Boomer ShooterFair
- + Turn-Based CombatPoor odds
- + LGBTQ+Poor odds
- + Spectacle fighterPoor odds
Comparable games
Hunt: Showdown 1896 2019 · $192M 
Lethal Company 2023 · EA · $123M 
Don't Starve 2013 · $29M 
The Quarry 2022 · $29M 
White Knuckle 2025 · EA · $6.8M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Hunt: Showdown 1896 | older | $29.99 | 213,023 74% | 6.4M | $192M (exactly $191,656,793) | Crytek |
| | Lethal Company | · EA older | $9.99 | 411,550 97% | 12M | $123M (exactly $123,341,535) | Zeekerss |
| | Don't Starve | older | $9.99 | 97,007 96% | 2.9M | $29M (exactly $29,072,998) | Klei Entertainment |
| | The Quarry | older | $59.99 | 16,127 83% | 484k | $29M (exactly $29,023,762) | Supermassive Games |
| | White Knuckle | · EA | $16.99 | 13,356 98% | 401k | $6.8M (exactly $6,807,553) | Dark Machine Games |
 | Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days | · EA | $24.99 | 9,049 89% | 271k | $6.8M (exactly $6,784,035) | PikPok |
 | State of Decay: YOSE | older | $19.99 | 10,526 82% | 316k | $6.3M (exactly $6,312,442) | Undead Labs |
 | Five Nights at Freddy's 2 | older | $7.99 | 23,871 93% | 716k | $5.7M (exactly $5,721,879) | Scott Cawthon |
 | Baldi's Basics Plus | · EA older | $9.99 | 10,895 97% | 327k | $3.3M (exactly $3,265,232) | Basically Games |
 | Nuclear Nightmare | · EA | $6.99 | 15,403 81% | 462k | $3.2M (exactly $3,230,009) | BG Productions |
 | Spark in the Dark | · EA | $16.99 | 1,174 87% | 35k | $598k (exactly $598,388) | Stellar Fish |
 | Paranoia Place: Escape Together | $7.99 | 1,555 87% | 47k | $373k (exactly $372,734) | Bloody Pixel Games | |
 | House of Necrosis | $11.99 | 581 94% | 17k | $209k (exactly $208,986) | Warkus | |
 | UNDERWARD | $9.99 | 593 73% | 18k | $178k (exactly $177,722) | INTENSE | |
 | MOLDRISE | $11.99 | 486 96% | 15k | $175k (exactly $174,814) | Raffaele Picca | |
 | Subterror | $7.99 | 397 90% | 12k | $95k (exactly $95,161) | Team Monumental | |
 | Peregrino | $16.99 | 174 65% | 5.2k | $89k (exactly $88,688) | Inverge Studios |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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