Games › Resource Management › Resource Management + Psychological Horror
Should I ship a Psychological-Horror Resource Management game?
Resource Management + Psychological Horror
Of 114 developers who shipped a Psychological-Horror Resource Management 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.. 240 more are announced, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.8k, ×3.8 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $270k, ×570 the market median. Revenue is up 130% on the market; 240 games are announced against 77 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $358 (exactly $358) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.8k (exactly $1,797) |
| Top 25% | $21k (exactly $21,180) |
| Top 5% | $271k (exactly $270,932) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 114 |
| Released games | 209 |
| Announced | 240 |
| Effort | 4 / 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 up 130% on the market, supply 105% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 11%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Resource Management
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Psychological Horror
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Resource Management; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Survival Horror, Simulation, Adventure
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, First-Person, Dark
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 84% positive over 57,769 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $360. 8 in 10 of the 44 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 240 games are announced against 77 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Resource Management with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + DwarvesFair
- + WesternFair
- + SnowFair
- + JRPGFair
- + UnderwaterFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + IdlerFair
- + ArcadeFair
- + HorsesFair
- + Quick-Time EventsFair
Comparable games
Resident Evil 4 2023 · $224M 
Cities: Skylines II 2023 · $96M 
Frostpunk 2 2024 · $28M 
Five Nights at Freddy's 2014 · $8.0M 
Amnesia: The Bunker 2023 · $7.8M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Resident Evil 4 | older | $39.99 | 186,701 97% | 5.6M | $224M (exactly $223,985,190) | CAPCOM Co., Ltd. |
| | Cities: Skylines II | older | $49.99 | 64,211 57% | 1.9M | $96M (exactly $96,297,237) | Iceflake Studios, Colossal Order |
| | Frostpunk 2 | $44.99 | 20,872 74% | 626k | $28M (exactly $28,170,938) | 11 bit studios | |
| | Five Nights at Freddy's | older | $4.99 | 53,607 94% | 1.6M | $8.0M (exactly $8,024,968) | Scott Cawthon |
| | Amnesia: The Bunker | older | $24.99 | 10,349 93% | 310k | $7.8M (exactly $7,758,645) | Frictional Games |
 | CloverPit | $9.99 | 24,710 90% | 741k | $7.4M (exactly $7,405,587) | Panik Arcade | |
 | Cultist Simulator | older | $19.99 | 10,496 82% | 315k | $6.3M (exactly $6,294,451) | Weather Factory |
 | Five Nights at Freddy's 2 | older | $7.99 | 23,871 93% | 716k | $5.7M (exactly $5,721,879) | Scott Cawthon |
 | Card Survival: Tropical Island | older | $24.99 | 2,962 94% | 89k | $2.2M (exactly $2,220,611) | WinterSpring Games |
 | Kaiju Princess | older | $10.99 | 6,069 95% | 182k | $2.0M (exactly $2,000,949) | PantyParrot |
 | Echoes of the Living | · EA | $24.99 | 1,005 83% | 30k | $753k (exactly $753,448) | MoonGlint Studio |
 | Horripilant | $7.99 | 2,928 92% | 88k | $702k (exactly $701,842) | Alexandre Declos , Pas Game Studio | |
 | Supermarket Chaos | $4.99 | 3,266 92% | 98k | $489k (exactly $488,920) | BunnyHop | |
 | Photomaly | $6.99 | 1,292 89% | 39k | $271k (exactly $270,932) | Revira Interactive | |
 | Iron Blight | $12.49 | 700 93% | 21k | $262k (exactly $262,290) | Ronesans Interactive | |
 | NO-SKIN | $6.99 | 1,227 95% | 37k | $257k (exactly $257,302) | NoEye-Soft | |
 | Backrooms Lost Runners | · EA | $13.99 | 592 75% | 18k | $248k (exactly $248,462) | ShimStudioGames |
 | Goblin Nest | $6.99 | 1,177 93% | 35k | $247k (exactly $246,817) | BadColor |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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