Games › Souls-like › Souls-like + Resource Management
Should I ship a Resource Management Souls-like?
Souls-like + Resource Management
Only 12 developers shipped a Resource Management Souls-like in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, The Shimmering Horizon and Cursed Blacksmith, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 27 more are announced, ×5.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.9k, ×1.3 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $580k, ×394 the market median. Revenue is down 15% on the market; 27 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $150 (exactly $150) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.9k (exactly $1,915) |
| Top 25% | $9.6k (exactly $9,581) |
| Top 5% | $590k (exactly $589,505) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 12 |
| Released games | 25 |
| Announced | 27 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| 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 down 15% on the market, supply 30% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 4%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Souls-like
- effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
- Resource Management
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Souls-like, Resource Management
- Price point
- $5.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 10 games average 61% positive over 1,190 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $150. All of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 27 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.4 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Souls-like with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Dating SimStrong odds
- + Visual NovelFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + JRPGFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + PsychologicalFair
- + Walking SimulatorFair
- + Precision PlatformerLong shot
- + Score AttackLong shot
- + WarPoor odds
- + Turn-Based TacticsPoor odds
- + RomancePoor odds
Comparable games
Outward Definitive Edition 2022 · $30M 
Fade to Silence 2019 · $928k 
The Shimmering Horizon and Cursed Blacksmith 2025 · $590k 
Help Will Come Tomorrow 2020 · $466k 
食用系少女：美食內戰 Food Girls：Civil War 2019 · $43k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Outward Definitive Edition | older | $39.99 | 24,636 72% | 739k | $30M (exactly $29,555,809) | Nine Dots Studio |
| | Fade to Silence | older | $29.99 | 1,032 62% | 31k | $928k (exactly $928,490) | Black Forest Games |
| | The Shimmering Horizon and Cursed Blacksmith | $19.99 | 983 58% | 29k | $590k (exactly $589,505) | Ason | |
| | Help Will Come Tomorrow | older | $19.99 | 777 80% | 23k | $466k (exactly $465,967) | Arclight Creations |
| | 食用系少女：美食內戰 Food Girls：Civil War | older | $19.99 | 71 94% | 2.1k | $43k (exactly $42,579) | SimonCreative, STORIA |
 | Grand Emprise 2: Portals Apart | $11.99 | 78 50% | 2.3k | $28k (exactly $28,057) | Tbjbu2 | |
 | Genderbend Me! Sayonara Demon Dong | older | $9.99 | 60 80% | 1.8k | $18k (exactly $17,982) | Norn |
 | No Delivery | older | $5.00 | 68 97% | 2.0k | $10k (exactly $10,200) | oates |
 | Italian Brainrot: In Prison | $4.99 | 64 81% | 1.9k | $9.6k (exactly $9,581) | ShLeks, Hero | |
 | Quantum Beast | $5.99 | 34 100% | 1.0k | $6.1k (exactly $6,110) | RaidenV_00 | |
 | Codename: Black Crow | $9.99 | 9 100% | 270 | $2.7k (exactly $2,697) | SEEP | |
 | Inventory Quest: Hero's Hoard | $3.99 | 16 81% | 480 | $1.9k (exactly $1,915) | Antti Ruokonen | |
 | Hoku Shrine | · EA | $9.99 | 3 66% | 90 | $899 (exactly $899) | Ibragim Shaipov |
 | Dimension Warrior | $5.99 | 1 0% | 30 | $180 (exactly $180) | WrathGames | |
 | Gold Finger | $4.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $150 (exactly $150) | 美慢慢 | |
 | Blade Knight | $4.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $150 (exactly $150) | Sheldon Kalkman |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.