Do I ship it?

Games › Survival Horror › Survival Horror + Runner

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Runner Survival Horror?

Survival Horror + Runner

Only 18 developers shipped a Runner Survival Horror 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, Zardy's Cave, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 28 more are announced, ×2.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $270 in the last 2 years and $480 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 6 / 10 build. 12 developers shipped in the last year and 28 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.4 times the market baseline, revenue up 1355% on the market, 28 announced, ×2.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Survival Horror + Runner
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 18
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.6k → $59 → $2.5k → $479 (still earning) → $119 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Survival Horror + Runner: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 18
Bottom 30% $30 (exactly $30)
Median $269 (exactly $269)
Top 25% $5.4k (exactly $5,396)
Top 5% $20k (exactly $20,135)
Developers, 2 yr 18
Released games 70
Announced 28
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 1355% on the market, supply 100% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 16%, 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
Runner
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, Runner; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration, Action
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, 3D, Dark
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 73% positive over 226 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 $270, 1 in 4 over $5.3k, 1 in 20 over $20k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. All of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 28 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.3 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

Decimate Drive 2024 · $77k [Chilla's Art] The Caregiver | 終焉介護 2021 · $65k [Chilla's Art] Hanako | 花子さん 2020 · $55k Zardy's Cave 2024 · $20k Kitchen Simulator 2 2017 · $12k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Decimate Drive older $7.99 321 91% 9.6k $77k (exactly $76,944) Some Random Designing
[Chilla's Art] The Caregiver | 終焉介護 older $4.99 431 80% 13k $65k (exactly $64,521) Chilla's Art
[Chilla's Art] Hanako | 花子さん older $7.99 229 75% 6.9k $55k (exactly $54,891) Chilla's Art
Zardy's Cave $7.99 84 80% 2.5k $20k (exactly $20,135) Full Trek Media
Kitchen Simulator 2 older $4.99 80 48% 2.4k $12k (exactly $11,976) WhackAKey Games
Infectious older $3.99 77 67% 2.3k $9.2k (exactly $9,217) Ziggy Makes Games
CashGrab older $2.93 101 93% 3.0k $8.9k (exactly $8,878) Grabba Guild Games LLC
TAURONOS older $4.99 48 87% 1.4k $7.2k (exactly $7,186) cavalie_ro, S.C. 16 BIT NIGHTS S.R.L.
The Backrooms: Rescue Expedition $9.99 21 33% 630 $6.3k (exactly $6,294) {CRYTIME}
Only Out $4.99 40 95% 1.2k $6.0k (exactly $5,988) Shark Studio
Misty Onsen $5.99 32 56% 960 $5.8k (exactly $5,750) 神 SHEN
Campfire: Night One $14.99 12 91% 360 $5.4k (exactly $5,396) Prisca, Mezey Krisztián
Meowmories $5.99 15 60% 450 $2.7k (exactly $2,696) Team Memolink
Nullwake $5.99 14 78% 420 $2.5k (exactly $2,516) DIG Games
Come To An End $7.99 2 100% 60 $479 (exactly $479) SoloRiotz
HorrorDungeon $2.99 3 66% 90 $269 (exactly $269) XUZHIHAO
We are one body $2.99 3 33% 90 $269 (exactly $269) Yang9

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