Games › Perma Death › Perma Death + Underground
Should I ship an Underground Perma Death game?
Perma Death + Underground
Of 28 developers who shipped an Underground Perma Death 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.. 47 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $4.2k, ×8.8 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $600k, ×1271 the market median. Revenue is up 30% on the market; 47 games are announced against 17 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $599 (exactly $599) |
|---|---|
| Median | $4.2k (exactly $4,196) |
| Top 25% | $12k (exactly $12,142) |
| Top 5% | $604k (exactly $603,947) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 28 |
| Released games | 75 |
| Announced | 47 |
| Effort | 4 / 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 up 30% on the market, supply 55% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 12%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Perma Death
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Underground
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Perma Death; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Exploration, Procedural Generation
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $16.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, Pixel Graphics, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $16.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 96% positive over 16,939 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $600. 8 in 10 of the 13 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 47 games are announced against 17 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Perma Death with a different setting or mood, 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
White Knuckle 2025 · EA · $6.8M 
Coal LLC 2025 · $604k 
Spark in the Dark 2026 · EA · $598k 
Dungeon 100 2023 · $562k 
Million Depth 2025 · $343k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | White Knuckle | · EA | $16.99 | 13,356 98% | 401k | $6.8M (exactly $6,807,553) | Dark Machine Games |
| | Coal LLC | $14.99 | 1,343 92% | 40k | $604k (exactly $603,947) | Bye Bye Ocean | |
| | Spark in the Dark | · EA | $16.99 | 1,174 87% | 35k | $598k (exactly $598,388) | Stellar Fish |
| | Dungeon 100 | older | $11.99 | 1,562 81% | 47k | $562k (exactly $561,851) | 可布和常常诶 |
| | Million Depth | $16.99 | 673 93% | 20k | $343k (exactly $343,028) | Cyber Space Biotope | |
 | Ants Took My Eyeball | older | $12.99 | 248 93% | 7.4k | $97k (exactly $96,646) | Bosmic Forge |
 | Skeletal Avenger | older | $16.99 | 158 82% | 4.7k | $81k (exactly $80,533) | 10tons Ltd |
 | Footgun: Underground | older | $14.99 | 102 85% | 3.1k | $46k (exactly $45,869) | Turtle Knight Games |
 | Runehaven | $9.99 | 119 91% | 3.6k | $36k (exactly $35,664) | Cikoria Studio | |
 | Demon Lord Reincarnation | older | $7.99 | 115 66% | 3.5k | $28k (exactly $27,566) | Graverobber Foundation |
 | Cthulhu's Reach: Devil Reef | $9.99 | 68 80% | 2.0k | $20k (exactly $20,380) | The Fine Arc | |
 | Rusty Rangers | $14.99 | 27 88% | 810 | $12k (exactly $12,142) | Fantastica! | |
 | The Candle | $4.99 | 71 91% | 2.1k | $11k (exactly $10,629) | Candle Dev | |
 | OREBLAZE | $4.99 | 64 92% | 1.9k | $9.6k (exactly $9,581) | Ludiminal Games | |
 | Loot Dungeon | $6.99 | 44 54% | 1.3k | $9.2k (exactly $9,227) | Electric Kite |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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