Games › Survival Horror › Survival Horror + Sci-fi
Should I ship a Sci-fi Survival Horror?
Survival Horror + Sci-fi
Of 202 developers who shipped a Sci-fi 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.. 480 more are announced, ×4.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.2k, ×1.8 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $1.0M, ×1723 the market median. Revenue is down 10% on the market; 480 games are announced against 105 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $300 (exactly $300) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.2k (exactly $1,155) |
| Top 25% | $8.6k (exactly $8,626) |
| Top 5% | $1.1M (exactly $1,082,339) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 202 |
| Released games | 611 |
| Announced | 480 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 10% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 12%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Sci-fi
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Survival Horror; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Exploration
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, First-Person, Realistic
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 86% positive over 193,138 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 8 in 10 of the 128 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 480 games are announced against 105 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.6 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Survival Horror with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVFair
- + DrivingFair
- + Tower DefenseFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + SnowFair
- + SportsFair
- + Outbreak SimFair
- + 3D PlatformerFair
- + Boomer ShooterFair
- + Turn-Based CombatPoor odds
- + LGBTQ+Poor odds
- + Spectacle fighterPoor odds
Comparable games
Subnautica 2018 · $307M 
Lethal Company 2023 · EA · $123M 
Dead Space 2023 · $113M 
Metro Exodus 2020 · $106M 
Subnautica 2 2026 · EA · $105M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Subnautica | older | $29.99 | 341,390 97% | 10M | $307M (exactly $307,148,583) | Unknown Worlds Entertainment |
| | Lethal Company | · EA older | $9.99 | 411,550 97% | 12M | $123M (exactly $123,341,535) | Zeekerss |
| | Dead Space | older | $59.99 | 62,997 90% | 1.9M | $113M (exactly $113,375,701) | Motive |
| | Metro Exodus | older | $29.99 | 117,453 90% | 3.5M | $106M (exactly $105,672,464) | 4A Games |
| | Subnautica 2 | · EA | $29.99 | 116,852 91% | 3.5M | $105M (exactly $105,131,744) | Unknown Worlds Entertainment |
 | Subnautica: Below Zero | older | $29.99 | 99,384 90% | 3.0M | $89M (exactly $89,415,785) | Unknown Worlds Entertainment |
 | Barotrauma | older | $34.99 | 61,905 94% | 1.9M | $65M (exactly $64,981,678) | FakeFish, Undertow Games |
 | The Callisto Protocol™ | older | $59.99 | 35,135 66% | 1.1M | $63M (exactly $63,232,460) | Striking Distance Studios |
 | Alien: Isolation | older | $39.99 | 48,591 92% | 1.5M | $58M (exactly $58,294,623) | Creative Assembly, Feral Interactive (M… (Creative Assembly, Feral Interactive (Mac), Feral Interactive (Linux)) |
 | Outlast | older | $14.99 | 104,353 96% | 3.1M | $47M (exactly $46,927,544) | Red Barrels |
 | Killing Floor 3 | $39.99 | 16,493 46% | 495k | $20M (exactly $19,786,652) | Tripwire Interactive | |
 | Cronos: The New Dawn | $59.99 | 7,753 87% | 233k | $14M (exactly $13,953,074) | Bloober Team | |
 | Five Nights at Freddy's: Secret of the Mimic | $39.99 | 10,874 86% | 326k | $13M (exactly $13,045,538) | Steel Wool Studios | |
 | Atomfall | $49.99 | 4,526 76% | 136k | $6.8M (exactly $6,787,642) | Rebellion | |
 | ROUTINE | $24.99 | 7,322 91% | 220k | $5.5M (exactly $5,489,303) | Lunar Software | |
 | Nuclear Nightmare | · EA | $6.99 | 15,403 81% | 462k | $3.2M (exactly $3,230,009) | BG Productions |
 | Species: Unknown | · EA | $9.99 | 9,437 94% | 283k | $2.8M (exactly $2,828,269) | WanadevStudio |
 | Project Silverfish | · EA | $29.99 | 3,138 93% | 94k | $2.8M (exactly $2,823,259) | Siris Pendrake |
 | Alien: Rogue Incursion VR | $39.99 | 1,340 70% | 40k | $1.6M (exactly $1,607,598) | Survios |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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