Games › Survival › Survival + Swordplay
Should I ship a Swordplay Survival game?
Survival + Swordplay
Of 36 developers who shipped a Swordplay Survival game 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.. 63 more are announced, ×3.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $510, ×0.8 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $350k, ×567 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 63 games are announced against 17 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $148 (exactly $148) |
|---|---|
| Median | $505 (exactly $505) |
| Top 25% | $4.3k (exactly $4,287) |
| Top 5% | $356k (exactly $356,108) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 36 |
| Released games | 116 |
| Announced | 63 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| 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 flat on the market, supply 10% fewer 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.
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Survival, Swordplay; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Action-Adventure, Combat
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Third Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 83% positive over 2,505 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $150. 8 in 10 of the 25 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 63 games are announced against 17 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.7 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
Kenshi 2018 · $89M 
MORDHAU 2019 · $82M 
Clone Drone in the Danger Zone 2021 · $22M 
Last Oasis 2020 · EA · $18M 
Mortal Online 2 2022 · $13M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Kenshi | older | $29.99 | 98,451 95% | 3.0M | $89M (exactly $88,576,365) | Lo-Fi Games |
| | MORDHAU | older | $29.99 | 91,678 80% | 2.8M | $82M (exactly $82,482,697) | Triternion |
| | Clone Drone in the Danger Zone | older | $19.99 | 36,084 96% | 1.1M | $22M (exactly $21,639,575) | Doborog Games |
| | Last Oasis | · EA older | $29.99 | 20,443 63% | 613k | $18M (exactly $18,392,567) | Donkey Crew |
| | Mortal Online 2 | older | $39.99 | 11,103 59% | 333k | $13M (exactly $13,320,269) | Star Vault AB |
 | 下一站江湖Ⅱ | older | $24.99 | 8,507 72% | 255k | $6.4M (exactly $6,377,698) | 白玉京工作室 |
 | SWORD ART ONLINE Alicization Lycoris | older | $19.99 | 5,017 61% | 151k | $3.0M (exactly $3,008,695) | AQURIA Co., Ltd. |
 | Driftland: The Magic Revival | older | $19.99 | 1,439 73% | 43k | $863k (exactly $862,968) | Star Drifters |
 | Onimusha 2: Samurai's Destiny | $29.99 | 663 85% | 20k | $597k (exactly $596,501) | CAPCOM Co., Ltd. | |
 | Forgotten Seas | $24.99 | 475 75% | 14k | $356k (exactly $356,108) | Pangea Game Studios | |
 | Captain Bones : A Pirate's Journey | $14.99 | 348 79% | 10k | $156k (exactly $156,496) | World of Poly | |
 | Void Sols | $14.99 | 347 95% | 10k | $156k (exactly $156,046) | Finite Reflection Studios | |
 | Dark PGT | $4.99 | 404 83% | 12k | $60k (exactly $60,479) | ZERO5GAMES | |
 | The Last King | · EA | $14.99 | 122 79% | 3.7k | $55k (exactly $54,863) | Mayawi software |
 | Eternal Sword Tomb | · EA | $8.99 | 68 77% | 2.0k | $18k (exactly $18,340) | 阿郎 |
 | Only One | $7.99 | 55 94% | 1.7k | $13k (exactly $13,184) | RebelBinary | |
 | Adventurer's Gambit: Dungeons of Fortune | $12.99 | 11 81% | 330 | $4.3k (exactly $4,287) | Astana Games | |
 | Smerch Battle Arena | · EA | $9.99 | 12 91% | 360 | $3.6k (exactly $3,596) | Smerch Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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