Games › Souls-like › Souls-like + Sci-fi
Should I ship a Sci-fi Souls-like?
Souls-like + Sci-fi
Of 64 developers who shipped a Sci-fi Souls-like 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.. 116 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $3.6k, ×2.4 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $420; 1 in 20 cleared $2.3M, ×1570 the market median. Revenue is up 210% on the market; 116 games are announced against 42 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $419 (exactly $419) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.6k (exactly $3,598) |
| Top 25% | $36k (exactly $35,976) |
| Top 5% | $2.4M (exactly $2,352,208) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 64 |
| Released games | 178 |
| Announced | 116 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 210% on the market, supply 90% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 11%, 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
- Sci-fi
- 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; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Action-Adventure, Adventure
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $34.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, Third Person, Story Rich
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $34.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 90% positive over 51,313 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $420. 8 in 10 of the 27 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 116 games are announced against 42 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Souls-like with a different setting or mood, 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
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | STAR WARS Jedi: Fallen Order™ | older | $39.99 | 153,782 88% | 4.6M | $184M (exactly $184,492,265) | Respawn Entertainment |
| | STAR WARS Jedi: Survivor™ | older | $69.99 | 79,990 71% | 2.4M | $168M (exactly $167,955,003) | Respawn |
| | ARMORED CORE™ VI FIRES OF RUBICON™ | older | $59.99 | 66,987 91% | 2.0M | $121M (exactly $120,556,504) | FromSoftware, Inc. |
| | PRAGMATA | $59.99 | 32,885 96% | 987k | $59M (exactly $59,183,134) | CAPCOM Co., Ltd. | |
| | LEGO® Star Wars™: The Skywalker Saga | older | $49.99 | 38,294 90% | 1.1M | $57M (exactly $57,429,512) | TT Games |
| | Nine Sols | older | $29.99 | 40,138 94% | 1.2M | $36M (exactly $36,112,159) | RedCandleGames |
| | SCARLET NEXUS | older | $59.99 | 13,749 81% | 412k | $25M (exactly $24,744,075) | BANDAI NAMCO Studios Inc. |
| | Bright Memory: Infinite | older | $19.99 | 36,229 91% | 1.1M | $22M (exactly $21,726,531) | FYQD-Studio |
| | BIOMUTANT | older | $39.99 | 13,169 67% | 395k | $16M (exactly $15,798,849) | Experiment 101 |
| | Hyper Light Drifter | older | $19.99 | 15,548 93% | 466k | $9.3M (exactly $9,324,136) | Heart Machine |
| | Hell is Us | $49.99 | 4,279 83% | 128k | $6.4M (exactly $6,417,216) | Rogue Factor | |
| | MIO: Memories in Orbit | $19.99 | 4,300 83% | 129k | $2.6M (exactly $2,578,710) | Douze Dixièmes | |
| | Lost Soul Aside™ | $59.99 | 1,307 59% | 39k | $2.4M (exactly $2,352,208) | Ultizero Games | |
| | Kotama and Academy Citadel | $19.99 | 2,542 80% | 76k | $1.5M (exactly $1,524,437) | Atomstring Games | |
| | Mohrta | $19.99 | 1,482 91% | 44k | $889k (exactly $888,755) | Scumhead, Osiol | |
| | Morbid Metal | · EA | $17.99 | 1,555 81% | 47k | $839k (exactly $839,233) | SCREEN JUICE |
| | Meta Ghost: Breaking Show | $17.99 | 1,497 72% | 45k | $808k (exactly $807,931) | Scarecrow Studio | |
| | Warhounds | $34.99 | 735 71% | 22k | $772k (exactly $771,530) | Everplay DMCC | |
| | Moros Protocol | $24.99 | 731 81% | 22k | $548k (exactly $548,031) | Pixel Reign |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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