Games › Perma Death › Perma Death + War
Should I ship a War Perma Death game?
Perma Death + War
Of 26 developers who shipped a War 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.. 56 more are announced, ×3.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.8k, ×4.5 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $480; 1 in 20 cleared $100k, ×160 the market median. Revenue is down 70% on the market; 56 games are announced against 17 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $479 (exactly $479) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.8k (exactly $2,820) |
| Top 25% | $9.0k (exactly $8,994) |
| Top 5% | $100k (exactly $100,328) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 26 |
| Released games | 63 |
| Announced | 56 |
| 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 70% on the market, supply 90% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 13%, 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
- War
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Perma Death; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Tactical, Roguelike
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Pixel Graphics
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 90% positive over 3,674 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $480. 8 in 10 of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 56 games are announced against 17 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.3 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
XCOM® 2 2016 · $48M 
Marauders 2022 · EA · $12M 
Bomber Crew 2017 · $5.0M 
Age of Wonders: Planetfall 2019 · $4.3M 
Cyber Knights: Flashpoint 2025 · $2.6M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | XCOM® 2 | older | $19.99 | 79,998 84% | 2.4M | $48M (exactly $47,974,801) | Firaxis Games, Feral Interactive (Mac),… (Firaxis Games, Feral Interactive (Mac), Feral Interactive (Linux)) |
| | Marauders | · EA older | $29.99 | 13,505 68% | 405k | $12M (exactly $12,150,448) | Small Impact Games |
| | Bomber Crew | older | $15.99 | 10,416 88% | 312k | $5.0M (exactly $4,996,555) | Runner Duck |
| | Age of Wonders: Planetfall | older | $29.99 | 4,758 80% | 143k | $4.3M (exactly $4,280,773) | Triumph Studios |
| | Cyber Knights: Flashpoint | $29.99 | 2,926 93% | 88k | $2.6M (exactly $2,632,522) | Trese Brothers | |
 | Lost Eidolons | older | $34.99 | 1,727 69% | 52k | $1.8M (exactly $1,812,832) | Ocean Drive Studio, Inc. |
 | Heads Will Roll: Reforged | older | $24.99 | 1,642 82% | 49k | $1.2M (exactly $1,231,007) | 1917 Studios |
 | Space Crew: Legendary Edition | older | $15.99 | 1,684 77% | 51k | $808k (exactly $807,815) | Runner Duck |
 | A Legionary's Life | older | $7.99 | 2,463 87% | 74k | $590k (exactly $590,381) | Alessandro Roberti |
 | Broken Lines | older | $24.99 | 604 76% | 18k | $453k (exactly $452,819) | BirdIsland/PortaPlay |
 | Mage and Monsters II | $8.99 | 372 82% | 11k | $100k (exactly $100,328) | Lasse Zacho Malver | |
 | Fracture Point | $19.99 | 158 81% | 4.7k | $95k (exactly $94,753) | Kyrylo Burlaka | |
 | BURNED HORIZONS | · EA | $44.99 | 29 34% | 870 | $39k (exactly $39,141) | BURNED HORIZONS STUDIO |
 | Vault of Power | $11.99 | 50 62% | 1.5k | $18k (exactly $17,985) | Jim Games | |
 | SOG: Vietnam | $12.99 | 33 93% | 990 | $13k (exactly $12,860) | PigeonMakesGames, Games By Loki | |
 | Rogue Conflict | $14.99 | 20 85% | 600 | $9.0k (exactly $8,994) | Frans Wikman | |
 | One King Is Enough | $10.99 | 27 77% | 810 | $8.9k (exactly $8,902) | INVISIBLE GAMES | |
 | Tribe Nation | $9.99 | 24 79% | 720 | $7.2k (exactly $7,193) | Random Worlds s.r.o. | |
 | SANDRIPPER | $5.99 | 35 91% | 1.1k | $6.3k (exactly $6,290) | Mack |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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