Games › Souls-like › Souls-like + Simulation
Should I ship a Simulation Souls-like?
Souls-like + Simulation
Of 50 developers who shipped a Simulation 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.. 51 more are announced, ×2.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $5.8k, ×3.9 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $900; 1 in 20 cleared $250k, ×168 the market median. Revenue is up 1190% on the market; 51 games are announced against 22 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $891 (exactly $891) |
|---|---|
| Median | $5.8k (exactly $5,821) |
| Top 25% | $37k (exactly $37,022) |
| Top 5% | $251k (exactly $251,496) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 50 |
| Released games | 153 |
| Announced | 51 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| 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 1190% on the market, supply 25% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 12%, 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
- Simulation
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Souls-like, Simulation; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Action, Adventure
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Third Person, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 12,452 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $900. 7 in 10 of the 34 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 51 games are announced against 22 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.3 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
Rain World 2017 · $35M 
コイカツ！ / Koikatsu Party 2019 · $9.5M 
Living With Sister: Monochrome Fantasy 2024 · $5.9M 
Exanima 2015 · EA · $5.7M 
Legendary Tales 2024 · $3.3M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Rain World | older | $24.99 | 46,871 94% | 1.4M | $35M (exactly $35,139,189) | Videocult |
| | コイカツ！ / Koikatsu Party | older | $59.99 | 5,298 91% | 159k | $9.5M (exactly $9,534,811) | ILLUSION |
| | Living With Sister: Monochrome Fantasy | older | $12.99 | 15,119 69% | 454k | $5.9M (exactly $5,891,874) | Inusuku |
| | Exanima | · EA older | $14.99 | 12,684 80% | 381k | $5.7M (exactly $5,703,995) | Bare Mettle Entertainment |
| | Legendary Tales | older | $39.99 | 2,711 76% | 81k | $3.3M (exactly $3,252,387) | Urban Wolf Games Inc. |
 | VR Kanojo / VRカノジョ | older | $49.99 | 1,767 76% | 53k | $2.6M (exactly $2,649,970) | ILLUSION |
 | Psycho Patrol R | · EA | $39.99 | 2,090 88% | 63k | $2.5M (exactly $2,507,373) | Consumer Softproducts |
 | Lonely Mountains: Downhill | older | $19.99 | 2,741 89% | 82k | $1.6M (exactly $1,643,778) | Megagon Industries |
 | Duel Corp. | · EA | $24.99 | 1,251 71% | 38k | $938k (exactly $937,875) | Dreameffect Entertainment |
 | Skoof Simulator | older | $29.99 | 935 83% | 28k | $841k (exactly $841,220) | PropilGames |
 | CUCKOLD SIMULATOR: Life as a Beta Male Cuck | $4.99 | 1,680 93% | 50k | $251k (exactly $251,496) | Team SNEED | |
 | Your Mom | $1.99 | 4,157 95% | 125k | $248k (exactly $248,173) | Mom Game | |
 | The Axis Unseen | $24.99 | 309 75% | 9.3k | $232k (exactly $231,657) | Just Purkey Games | |
 | Escape from Yandere | $4.99 | 1,335 75% | 40k | $200k (exactly $199,850) | VorhGames | |
 | Strange Seed | $14.99 | 431 86% | 13k | $194k (exactly $193,821) | Chronicle Games Ltd | |
 | Frankie's FunClub | $14.99 | 236 65% | 7.1k | $106k (exactly $106,129) | LOVEBITES | |
 | Lumberjacked | $4.99 | 647 83% | 19k | $97k (exactly $96,856) | Inner Realm Studios, Dumb Duck Games | |
 | King of Bones | $7.99 | 316 85% | 9.5k | $76k (exactly $75,745) | Gluten Free Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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