Games › Tactical › Tactical + Psychological Horror
Should I ship a Psychological-Horror Tactical game?
Tactical + Psychological Horror
Of 43 developers who shipped a Psychological-Horror Tactical 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.. 68 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.1k, ×3.3 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $540; 1 in 20 cleared $280k, ×457 the market median. Revenue is up 45% on the market; 68 games are announced against 27 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $539 (exactly $539) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.1k (exactly $2,096) |
| Top 25% | $14k (exactly $14,442) |
| Top 5% | $287k (exactly $287,120) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 43 |
| Released games | 129 |
| Announced | 68 |
| 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 45% on the market, supply 70% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 10%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Tactical
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Psychological Horror
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Tactical; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Strategy, Turn-Based Strategy
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person, 2.5D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 53% positive over 61,752 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $540. 8 in 10 of the 17 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 68 games are announced against 27 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Tactical with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Football (American)Strong odds
- + Mystery DungeonStrong odds
- + Dating SimFair
- + 6DOFFair
- + Word GameFair
- + TypingFair
- + DwarvesFair
- + Traditional RoguelikeFair
- + Dynamic NarrationFair
- + Farming SimFair
- + SolitaireFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
Comparable games
Phasmophobia 2020 · EA · $410M 
Ready or Not 2023 · $398M 
Escape from Tarkov 2025 · $84M 
Call of Duty®: Ghosts 2014 · $16M 
Cruelty Squad 2021 · $14M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Phasmophobia | · EA older | $19.99 | 684,009 94% | 21M | $410M (exactly $410,200,197) | Kinetic Games |
| | Ready or Not | older | $49.99 | 265,219 79% | 8.0M | $398M (exactly $397,748,934) | VOID Interactive |
| | Escape from Tarkov | $49.99 | 55,824 49% | 1.7M | $84M (exactly $83,719,253) | Battlestate Games | |
| | Call of Duty®: Ghosts | older | $39.99 | 12,976 66% | 389k | $16M (exactly $15,567,307) | Infinity Ward |
| | Cruelty Squad | older | $19.99 | 23,209 96% | 696k | $14M (exactly $13,918,437) | Consumer Softproducts |
 | War of Rights | · EA older | $29.99 | 13,441 88% | 403k | $12M (exactly $12,092,868) | Campfire Games |
 | Demonologist | older | $19.99 | 18,886 85% | 567k | $11M (exactly $11,325,934) | Clock Wizard Games |
 | Call of Duty®: Vanguard | older | $59.99 | 4,172 67% | 125k | $7.5M (exactly $7,508,348) | Sledgehammer Games, Treyarch, High Moon… (Sledgehammer Games, Treyarch, High Moon Studios, Raven Software, Beenox, Demonware) |
 | Cold Waters | older | $39.99 | 4,603 87% | 138k | $5.5M (exactly $5,522,219) | Killerfish Games |
 | Beholder 2 | older | $17.99 | 6,865 87% | 206k | $3.7M (exactly $3,705,040) | Alawar Stargaze (Warm Lamp Games) |
 | HOLE | $4.99 | 3,822 93% | 115k | $572k (exactly $572,153) | NEGAFISH | |
 | Vultures - Scavengers of Death | $17.99 | 532 81% | 16k | $287k (exactly $287,120) | Team Vultures | |
 | Project Unknown | $9.99 | 776 81% | 23k | $233k (exactly $232,567) | PsychoRavens | |
 | Bendy: Lone Wolf | $19.99 | 259 77% | 7.8k | $155k (exactly $155,322) | Joey Drew Studios | |
 | R-Type Tactics I • II Cosmos | $49.99 | 94 82% | 2.8k | $141k (exactly $140,972) | Granzella Inc. | |
 | Relooted | $14.99 | 257 87% | 7.7k | $116k (exactly $115,573) | Nyamakop | |
 | Below the Crown | $14.99 | 64 96% | 1.9k | $29k (exactly $28,781) | Misfits Attic | |
 | Deadly Quiet | $9.75 | 89 55% | 2.7k | $26k (exactly $26,032) | Tarba Paul Cornel, Abdul Rafy | |
 | Mercenaries Lament: Requiem of the Silver Wolf | $19.99 | 35 42% | 1.1k | $21k (exactly $20,990) | ESQUADRA,inc., RideonJapan |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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