Games › Souls-like › Souls-like + Survival
Should I ship a Survival Souls-like?
Souls-like + Survival
Of 57 developers who shipped a Survival 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.. 90 more are announced, ×3.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $960, ×0.6 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360. 90 games are announced against 26 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.5 per shipper, while revenue is down 80% on the market.
| Bottom 30% | $359 (exactly $359) |
|---|---|
| Median | $958 (exactly $958) |
| Top 25% | $22k (exactly $21,593) |
| Top 5% | $12M (exactly $12,028,936) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 57 |
| Released games | 167 |
| Announced | 90 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| 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 80% on the market, supply 20% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 6%, 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
- Survival
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Souls-like, Survival; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Action, Action RPG
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Third Person, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 80% positive over 172,645 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $360. 7 in 10 of the 35 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 90 games are announced against 26 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.5 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
ELDEN RING NIGHTREIGN 2025 · $155M 
Grounded 2022 · $91M 
Remnant: From the Ashes 2019 · $57M 
Rain World 2017 · $35M 
Outward Definitive Edition 2022 · $30M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | ELDEN RING NIGHTREIGN | $39.99 | 129,476 83% | 3.9M | $155M (exactly $155,332,357) | FromSoftware, Inc. | |
| | Grounded | older | $39.99 | 75,755 90% | 2.3M | $91M (exactly $90,883,274) | Obsidian Entertainment |
| | Remnant: From the Ashes | older | $39.99 | 47,193 84% | 1.4M | $57M (exactly $56,617,442) | Gunfire Games |
| | Rain World | older | $24.99 | 46,871 94% | 1.4M | $35M (exactly $35,139,189) | Videocult |
| | Outward Definitive Edition | older | $39.99 | 24,636 72% | 739k | $30M (exactly $29,555,809) | Nine Dots Studio |
 | Grounded 2 | · EA | $29.99 | 21,442 82% | 643k | $19M (exactly $19,291,367) | Obsidian Entertainment, Eidos-Montréal |
 | Mistfall Hunter | $24.99 | 16,045 53% | 481k | $12M (exactly $12,028,936) | Bellring Games | |
 | Blood West | older | $24.99 | 6,132 90% | 184k | $4.6M (exactly $4,597,160) | Hyperstrange |
 | Ashen | older | $39.99 | 3,280 67% | 98k | $3.9M (exactly $3,935,016) | A44 |
 | Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree | $39.99 | 3,026 75% | 91k | $3.6M (exactly $3,630,292) | Primal Game Studio | |
 | YAR: Forgotten Throne | $19.99 | 1,283 89% | 38k | $769k (exactly $769,415) | Honor Games | |
 | Void Sols | $14.99 | 347 95% | 10k | $156k (exactly $156,046) | Finite Reflection Studios | |
 | ENDALOR | · EA | $19.99 | 256 71% | 7.7k | $154k (exactly $153,523) | Diorite Games |
 | Dark PGT | $4.99 | 404 83% | 12k | $60k (exactly $60,479) | ZERO5GAMES | |
 | Elder Legacy: Survival | · EA | $9.99 | 189 62% | 5.7k | $57k (exactly $56,643) | Honor Games |
 | Hollow Survivors | $9.99 | 177 80% | 5.3k | $53k (exactly $53,047) | Danny Deer |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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