Do I ship it?

Games › Survival Horror › Survival Horror + Roguelike

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Roguelike Survival Horror?

Survival Horror + Roguelike

Of 92 developers who shipped a Roguelike Survival Horror 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.. 134 more are announced, ×2.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.1k, ×1.7 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $200k, ×333 the market median. Revenue is down 50% on the market; 134 games are announced against 57 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.7 times the market baseline, revenue down 50% on the market, 134 announced, ×2.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Survival Horror + Roguelike
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 92
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $299 → $2.5k → $359 → $718 → $7.0k → $1.2k → $1.1k (still earning) → $599 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Survival Horror + Roguelike: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 92
Bottom 30% $299 (exactly $299)
Median $1.1k (exactly $1,076)
Top 25% $8.4k (exactly $8,390)
Top 5% $209k (exactly $208,986)
Developers, 2 yr 92
Released games 250
Announced 134
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 down 50% on the market, supply 60% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 8%, 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 Horror
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Roguelike
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 Horror, Roguelike; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Action Roguelike
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person, Dark
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 92% positive over 19,970 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 $1.1k, 1 in 4 over $8.3k, 1 in 20 over $200k.

3 in 10 developers made under $300. 7 in 10 of the 42 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 134 games are announced against 57 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Survival Horror with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + FMVFair13 devs · median $31k · 14 announced
  2. + DrivingFair20 devs · median $4.9k · 25 announced
  3. + Tower DefenseFair14 devs · median $1.9k · 16 announced
  4. + IncrementalFair16 devs · median $1.6k · 19 announced
  5. + SnowFair17 devs · median $1.2k · 15 announced
  6. + SportsFair5 devs · median $959 · 3 announced
  7. + Outbreak SimFair22 devs · median $958 · 24 announced
  8. + 3D PlatformerFair111 devs · median $539 · 104 announced
  9. + Boomer ShooterFair27 devs · median $449 · 28 announced
  10. + Turn-Based CombatPoor odds10 devs · median $64k · 42 announced
  11. + LGBTQ+Poor odds17 devs · median $52k · 21 announced
  12. + Spectacle fighterPoor odds8 devs · median $52k · 12 announced

All 159 pairs on the Survival Horror page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Don't Starve Together 2016 · $169M Don't Starve 2013 · $29M White Knuckle 2025 · EA · $6.8M WORLD OF HORROR 2023 · $5.4M Fear & Hunger 2019 · $5.0M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Don't Starve Together older $14.99 376,165 94% 11M $169M (exactly $169,161,400) Klei Entertainment
Don't Starve older $9.99 97,007 96% 2.9M $29M (exactly $29,072,998) Klei Entertainment
White Knuckle · EA $16.99 13,356 98% 401k $6.8M (exactly $6,807,553) Dark Machine Games
WORLD OF HORROR older $19.99 8,991 89% 270k $5.4M (exactly $5,391,903) panstasz
Fear & Hunger older $7.99 20,881 94% 626k $5.0M (exactly $5,005,176) Miro Haverinen
Baldi's Basics Plus · EA older $9.99 10,895 97% 327k $3.3M (exactly $3,265,232) Basically Games
The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu $29.99 3,107 69% 93k $2.8M (exactly $2,795,368) ACE Team
ZOMBI older $19.99 2,964 64% 89k $1.8M (exactly $1,777,511) Straight Right
Receiver 2 older $19.99 2,852 90% 86k $1.7M (exactly $1,710,344) Wolfire Games
Monstrum older $17.99 3,155 91% 95k $1.7M (exactly $1,702,753) Team Junkfish
CleanFall · EA $19.99 492 92% 15k $295k (exactly $295,052) Humanyoyo
The Bleakest Keep $9.99 719 90% 22k $215k (exactly $215,484) Cache of Bones
House of Necrosis $11.99 581 94% 17k $209k (exactly $208,986) Warkus
It Has My Face $9.99 608 88% 18k $182k (exactly $182,218) NightByte Games
BodyRecords · EA $6.99 581 70% 17k $122k (exactly $121,836) MIROWIN
Repterra $19.99 122 90% 3.7k $73k (exactly $73,163) Chute Apps
THE SPIRIT LIFT $19.99 118 94% 3.5k $71k (exactly $70,765) prettysmart games
Knights End $7.99 286 90% 8.6k $69k (exactly $68,554) Knight Shift Studios

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