Do I ship it?

Games › Procedural Generation › Procedural Generation + Thriller

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Thriller Procedural Generation game?

Procedural Generation + Thriller

Of 31 developers who shipped a Thriller Procedural Generation 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.. 53 more are announced, ×2.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $840, ×1.8 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $130k, ×274 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 53 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.8 times the market baseline, revenue flat on the market, 53 announced, ×2.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Procedural Generation + Thriller
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 31
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $44k → $479 → $1.0k → $3.4k → $748 → $1.4k (still earning) → $839 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Procedural Generation + Thriller: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 31
Bottom 30% $299 (exactly $299)
Median $839 (exactly $839)
Top 25% $4.0k (exactly $4,047)
Top 5% $130k (exactly $130,211)
Developers, 2 yr 31
Released games 69
Announced 53
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 flat on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 16%, 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.

Procedural Generation
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
Thriller
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Procedural Generation; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Online Co-Op, Action, Co-op
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, First-Person, Realistic
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 75% positive over 1,752 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $300, median $840, 1 in 4 over $4.0k, 1 in 20 over $130k.

3 in 10 developers made under $300. 9 in 10 of the 17 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 53 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Procedural Generation with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + SnowFair11 devs · median $3.0k · 16 announced
  2. + Traditional RoguelikeFair71 devs · median $2.0k · 93 announced
  3. + DetectiveFair29 devs · median $1.5k · 30 announced
  4. + Word GameFair22 devs · median $1.3k · 23 announced
  5. + TypingFair26 devs · median $1.1k · 11 announced
  6. + IdlerFair98 devs · median $807 · 107 announced
  7. + LogicFair137 devs · median $478 · 149 announced
  8. + Walking SimulatorFair57 devs · median $449 · 62 announced
  9. + Precision PlatformerFair49 devs · median $449 · 42 announced
  10. + Hidden ObjectFair58 devs · median $418 · 56 announced
  11. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds31 devs · median $77k · 95 announced
  12. + TrainsPoor odds22 devs · median $30k · 35 announced

All 222 pairs on the Procedural Generation page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Pacify 2019 · $4.9M Shadow Corridor 2 雨ノ四葩 2024 · $486k Love Love School Days 2023 · $192k UNDERWARD 2025 · $178k Daylight 2014 · $155k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Pacify older $4.99 32,921 86% 988k $4.9M (exactly $4,928,274) Shawn Hitchcock
Shadow Corridor 2 雨ノ四葩 older $18.99 853 87% 26k $486k (exactly $485,954) Space Onigiri Game LLC
Love Love School Days older $5.99 1,067 95% 32k $192k (exactly $191,740) OTL GAME
UNDERWARD $9.99 593 73% 18k $178k (exactly $177,722) INTENSE
Daylight older $4.99 1,038 53% 31k $155k (exactly $155,389) Zombie Studios
Life Eater older $14.99 330 86% 9.9k $148k (exactly $148,401) Strange Scaffold
Exit From older $9.99 489 83% 15k $147k (exactly $146,553) White Box, Elendely
the cabin game · EA $11.99 362 86% 11k $130k (exactly $130,211) Twisted Corridor👻
Touhou ~Red Empress Devil. $8.99 438 70% 13k $118k (exactly $118,129) STUDIO POCO
Spectator older $12.99 113 93% 3.4k $44k (exactly $44,036) Minechan, Neko Machine
Dollhouse of Dead $6.99 140 75% 4.2k $29k (exactly $29,358) Renderise Games
Dreadway $6.99 101 67% 3.0k $21k (exactly $21,180) ZweiBier Indie
Spectator 2 $12.99 33 72% 990 $13k (exactly $12,860) Neko Machine, Minechan
Anomaly Protocol · EA $4.99 33 72% 990 $4.9k (exactly $4,940) Oriland
Into the End (of the World) · EA $14.99 9 55% 270 $4.0k (exactly $4,047) RabbiX Games
15th Prison $3.99 28 92% 840 $3.4k (exactly $3,352) Zettanium
Gamble: Hard Exit $5.99 15 100% 450 $2.7k (exactly $2,696) RedZet

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