Do I ship it?

GamesSurvivalSurvival + Quick-Time Events

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Quick-Time Events Survival game?

Survival + Quick-Time Events

Of 39 developers who shipped a Quick-Time Events 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.. 42 more are announced.

Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $150 in the last 2 years and $210 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 6 / 10 build. 28 developers shipped in the last year and 42 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.2 times the market baseline, revenue up 150% on the market, 42 announced, ×1.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Survival + Quick-Time Events
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 39
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $179 → $359 → $2.9k → $898 → $539 → $269 (still earning) → $105 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Survival + Quick-Time Events: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 39
Bottom 30% $30 (exactly $30)
Median $150 (exactly $150)
Top 25% $1.3k (exactly $1,259)
Top 5% $27k (exactly $27,279)
Developers, 2 yr 39
Released games 104
Announced 42
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $5.99

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 150% on the market, supply 155% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 15%, 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
Quick-Time Events
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium 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, Quick-Time Events; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Resource Management, Simulation
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $13.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Atmospheric, Realistic
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $13.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 65% positive over 1,555 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $50, median $150, 1 in 4 over $1.2k, 1 in 20 over $27k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. All of the 17 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 42 games are announced against 28 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Survival with a different second tag, 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
Resident Evil 4 (2005) older $19.99 78,502 94% 2.4M $47M (exactly $47,077,649) Capcom
Resident Evil 6 older $19.99 51,420 77% 1.5M $31M (exactly $30,836,574) Capcom
Resident Evil 5 older $19.99 48,521 87% 1.5M $29M (exactly $29,098,044) Capcom
The Walking Dead older $14.99 53,650 97% 1.6M $24M (exactly $24,126,405) Telltale Games
The Walking Dead: Season Two older $14.99 26,848 96% 805k $12M (exactly $12,073,546) Telltale Games
The Beast Inside older $24.99 10,528 83% 316k $7.9M (exactly $7,892,842) Illusion Ray
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
Directive 8020 $49.99 1,337 63% 40k $2.0M (exactly $2,005,099) Supermassive Games
U.N.P.O.C. Vessel of Opportunity $12.99 70 68% 2.1k $27k (exactly $27,279) Danny Ziemer
Go To Sleep $6.99 34 82% 1.0k $7.1k (exactly $7,130) YuRo Games
Fish 'n Ships $4.99 36 97% 1.1k $5.4k (exactly $5,389) Squid Snooze Studio
FuJianStrike $6.99 22 100% 660 $4.6k (exactly $4,613) Mithril_055
Breakfall: Nuclear Winter · EA $17.99 7 28% 210 $3.8k (exactly $3,778) Dominik Geuer
BURIED BELOW $4.99 23 91% 690 $3.4k (exactly $3,443) Aura studios
Night of the Dead Simulator $7.99 12 50% 360 $2.9k (exactly $2,876) Unknown People Lab
Strong Crab $5.99 11 81% 330 $2.0k (exactly $1,977) Kayla.Z
Slot or Die $13.99 3 33% 90 $1.3k (exactly $1,259) cr0cq

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