Do I ship it?

GamesSurvivalSurvival + Psychological

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Psychological Survival game?

Survival + Psychological

Of 152 developers who shipped a Psychological Survival 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.. 228 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 $900, ×1.4 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $150k, ×250 the market median. Revenue is up 10% on the market; 228 games are announced against 89 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.4 times the market baseline, revenue up 10% on the market, 228 announced, ×2.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Survival + Psychological
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 152
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $5.4k → $2.7k → $1.7k → $1.2k → $987 → $449 → $1.2k (still earning) → $1.1k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Survival + Psychological: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 152
Bottom 30% $299 (exactly $299)
Median $899 (exactly $899)
Top 25% $6.0k (exactly $5,985)
Top 5% $157k (exactly $157,121)
Developers, 2 yr 152
Released games 411
Announced 228
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 up 10% on the market, supply 35% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 12%, 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.

Survival
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Psychological
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
Survival; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Survival Horror, Action
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $11.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, 3D, Atmospheric
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $11.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 86% positive over 31,482 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 $900, 1 in 4 over $5.9k, 1 in 20 over $150k.

3 in 10 developers made under $300. 9 in 10 of the 75 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 228 games are announced against 89 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + FMVStrong odds14 devs · median $74k · 10 announced
  2. + Social DeductionFair31 devs · median $6.2k · 35 announced
  3. + Word GameFair22 devs · median $2.1k · 29 announced
  4. + CatsFair33 devs · median $1.2k · 34 announced
  5. + CollectathonFair77 devs · median $1.0k · 84 announced
  6. + IdlerFair96 devs · median $836 · 99 announced
  7. + Auto BattlerFair79 devs · median $807 · 90 announced
  8. + IncrementalFair101 devs · median $599 · 130 announced
  9. + DogsFair20 devs · median $535 · 19 announced
  10. + Martial ArtsLong shot19 devs · median $419 · 17 announced
  11. + Boomer ShooterLong shot39 devs · median $359 · 32 announced
  12. + DiplomacyPoor odds16 devs · median $100k · 28 announced

All 234 pairs on the Survival page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Among Us older $4.99 659,003 92% 20M $99M (exactly $98,652,749) Innersloth
This War of Mine older $19.99 81,804 93% 2.5M $49M (exactly $49,057,859) 11 bit studios
The Alters $34.99 15,330 90% 460k $16M (exactly $16,091,901) 11 bit studios
Blair Witch older $29.99 6,489 78% 195k $5.8M (exactly $5,838,153) Bloober Team SA
Digimon Survive older $59.99 3,124 78% 94k $5.6M (exactly $5,622,263) HYDE, Inc.
The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil in Me older $39.99 3,778 56% 113k $4.5M (exactly $4,532,467) Supermassive Games
The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope older $19.99 7,202 74% 216k $4.3M (exactly $4,319,039) Supermassive Games
Pathologic 3 $34.99 2,528 80% 76k $2.7M (exactly $2,653,642) Ice-Pick Lodge
BURIED STARS older $39.99 2,117 83% 64k $2.5M (exactly $2,539,765) LINE Games Corporation
Your Turn To Die -Death Game By Majority- · EA older $16.99 4,122 97% 124k $2.1M (exactly $2,100,983) Nankidai
The Thing: Remastered $29.99 1,203 89% 36k $1.1M (exactly $1,082,339) Nightdive Studios, Computer Artworks
Among Us 3D $9.99 3,056 72% 92k $916k (exactly $915,883) Schell Games, Innersloth
Feign $4.99 5,270 91% 158k $789k (exactly $788,919) Teneke Kafalar
DEATH NOTE Killer Within $9.99 2,324 84% 70k $697k (exactly $696,503) Grounding Inc.
WE ARE SO DEAD · EA $7.99 672 73% 20k $161k (exactly $161,078) REAL PLAYERS
Beneath $19.99 262 69% 7.9k $157k (exactly $157,121) Camel 101
Sister Ray $11.99 410 95% 12k $147k (exactly $147,477) The Growing Stones
晨昏线 $9.99 427 76% 13k $128k (exactly $127,972) Enter Games

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