Games › Survival › Survival + Split Screen
Should I ship a Split Screen Survival game?
Survival + Split Screen
Only 13 developers shipped a Split Screen Survival game 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, Revenge of the Savage Planet, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 16 more are announced, ×2.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $450, ×0.7 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $50; 1 in 20 cleared $2.5M, ×4076 the market median. Revenue is down 75% on the market; 16 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $0 (exactly $0) |
|---|---|
| Median | $449 (exactly $449) |
| Top 25% | $1.1k (exactly $1,079) |
| Top 5% | $2.6M (exactly $2,559,646) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 13 |
| Released games | 58 |
| Announced | 16 |
| 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 75% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 16%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Survival
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Split Screen
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Survival, Split Screen; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Action-Adventure, Adventure
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 9 games average 86% positive over 2,878 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $50. 9 in 10 of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 16 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Survival with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Social DeductionFair
- + Word GameFair
- + CatsFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + DogsFair
- + Martial ArtsLong shot
- + Boomer ShooterLong shot
- + DiplomacyPoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Resident Evil 6 | older | $19.99 | 51,420 77% | 1.5M | $31M (exactly $30,836,574) | Capcom |
| | Outward Definitive Edition | older | $39.99 | 24,636 72% | 739k | $30M (exactly $29,555,809) | Nine Dots Studio |
| | Resident Evil 5 | older | $19.99 | 48,521 87% | 1.5M | $29M (exactly $29,098,044) | Capcom |
| | Who's Your Daddy?! | older | $9.99 | 25,797 80% | 774k | $7.7M (exactly $7,731,361) | Evil Tortilla Games |
| | Distance | older | $24.99 | 5,832 93% | 175k | $4.4M (exactly $4,372,250) | Refract |
| | Revenge of the Savage Planet | $29.99 | 2,845 86% | 85k | $2.6M (exactly $2,559,646) | Raccoon Logic Studios Inc. | |
| | Tasty Blue | older | $7.99 | 699 88% | 21k | $168k (exactly $167,550) | Dingo Games |
| | Bloody Rally Show | older | $19.99 | 248 89% | 7.4k | $149k (exactly $148,726) | Kodo Linija |
| | Voltaire: The Vegan Vampire | older | $19.99 | 113 76% | 3.4k | $68k (exactly $67,766) | Digitality Games |
| | Among Ass | older | $4.99 | 378 80% | 11k | $57k (exactly $56,587) | Volens Nolens Games |
| | Deepest Trench | $14.99 | 9 66% | 270 | $4.0k (exactly $4,047) | Favor Games | |
| | Mournight | $6.99 | 12 16% | 360 | $2.5k (exactly $2,516) | Fround Interactive | |
| | Exanimate | $11.99 | 3 100% | 90 | $1.1k (exactly $1,079) | CodeCabanaGames | |
| | Velocide Overdrive | $9.99 | 3 100% | 90 | $899 (exactly $899) | NoxRift Games | |
| | Highrisers Couch Co-Op | · EA | $14.99 | 1 0% | 30 | $450 (exactly $450) | Solar Powered Games |
| | Aluna Rift | $4.99 | 3 100% | 90 | $449 (exactly $449) | Ben Lowther-Saul | |
| | Monkey Wave | $4.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $150 (exactly $150) | SnowSeal | |
| | Ruins | · EA | $4.99 | 1 0% | 30 | $150 (exactly $150) | Tyler |
| | Zombie Siege:Room War | $0.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | gamemixcraft |
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.