Games › Souls-like › Souls-like + Underground
Should I ship an Underground Souls-like?
Souls-like + Underground
Only 8 developers shipped an Underground Souls-like 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, Spark in the Dark, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 17 more are announced, ×3.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $4.8k, ×3.2 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $2.0k; 1 in 20 cleared $590k, ×399 the market median. Revenue is up 335% on the market; 17 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year.
not enough cohorts to draw
| Bottom 30% | $2.0k (exactly $1,973) |
|---|---|
| Median | $4.8k (exactly $4,794) |
| Top 25% | $249k (exactly $249,217) |
| Top 5% | $598k (exactly $598,388) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 8 |
| Released games | 28 |
| Announced | 17 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 335% on the market, supply 65% 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
- Underground
- 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
- Price point
- $7.99 typical
Why players buy here
Fewer than 10 games in the last 2 years; sentiment and price figures use the all window.
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 85% positive over 2,598 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $2.0k. 6 in 10 of the 5 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 17 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.4 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
Spark in the Dark 2026 · EA · $598k 
Frogmonster 2024 · $351k 
Shadow Labyrinth 2025 · $249k 
THE CANON OF BALLS 2026 · $34k 
Dragonpath 2016 · $22k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Spark in the Dark | · EA | $16.99 | 1,174 87% | 35k | $598k (exactly $598,388) | Stellar Fish |
| | Frogmonster | older | $19.99 | 585 96% | 18k | $351k (exactly $350,824) | Ben Jungwirth |
| | Shadow Labyrinth | $29.99 | 277 54% | 8.3k | $249k (exactly $249,217) | Bandai Namco Studios Inc. | |
| | THE CANON OF BALLS | $3.99 | 287 98% | 8.6k | $34k (exactly $34,354) | Helios Monk | |
| | Dragonpath | older | $7.99 | 91 78% | 2.7k | $22k (exactly $21,813) | Ebonscale Games |
 | Succubus 2069 | older | $9.99 | 50 46% | 1.5k | $15k (exactly $14,985) | DemonLabs Interactive |
 | Demon Strikes Back | older | $7.99 | 43 62% | 1.3k | $10k (exactly $10,307) | WildPlanet |
 | Thread | older | $10.99 | 24 83% | 720 | $7.9k (exactly $7,913) | Medow |
 | Dungeon Limbus | older | $14.99 | 17 52% | 510 | $7.6k (exactly $7,645) | GameIn |
 | Jacob The Farmer | older | $4.99 | 50 74% | 1.5k | $7.5k (exactly $7,485) | Quarlellle |
 | Tome of the Damned | $7.99 | 20 60% | 600 | $4.8k (exactly $4,794) | Redtower Games | |
 | Spirited Line | $4.99 | 26 92% | 780 | $3.9k (exactly $3,892) | Eazy Wizard | |
 | The Book of Aaru | $2.99 | 22 86% | 660 | $2.0k (exactly $1,973) | Amenti Studio | |
 | Fallen King | $9.99 | 5 0% | 150 | $1.5k (exactly $1,498) | Fish Bone | |
 | Run Eternal Depths | $0.99 | 9 88% | 270 | $267 (exactly $267) | Artyom Gudkov |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.