Games › Survival › Survival + Thriller
Should I ship a Thriller Survival game?
Survival + Thriller
Of 178 developers who shipped a Thriller 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.. 289 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $810, ×1.3 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $220k, ×357 the market median. Revenue is down 25% on the market; 289 games are announced against 102 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $299 (exactly $299) |
|---|---|
| Median | $807 (exactly $807) |
| Top 25% | $5.7k (exactly $5,689) |
| Top 5% | $224k (exactly $224,288) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 178 |
| Released games | 464 |
| Announced | 289 |
| 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 down 25% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 13%, 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; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Survival Horror, Action
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.49 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Atmospheric, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $12.49 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 42,592 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 9 in 10 of the 90 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 289 games are announced against 102 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Survival with a different setting or mood, 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
The Last of Us™ Part I 2023 · $117M 
The Last of Us™ Part II Remastered 2025 · $51M 
Alan Wake 2012 · $21M 
Dead Space™ 3 2020 · $7.3M 
Seed of the Dead: Sweet Home 2021 · $2.7M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | The Last of Us™ Part I | older | $59.99 | 65,259 85% | 2.0M | $117M (exactly $117,446,622) | Naughty Dog LLC, Iron Galaxy Studios |
| | The Last of Us™ Part II Remastered | $49.99 | 34,252 90% | 1.0M | $51M (exactly $51,367,724) | Naughty Dog LLC, Nixxes Software, Iron… (Naughty Dog LLC, Nixxes Software, Iron Galaxy Studios) | |
| | Alan Wake | older | $14.99 | 45,662 89% | 1.4M | $21M (exactly $20,534,201) | Remedy Entertainment |
| | Dead Space™ 3 | older | $19.99 | 12,238 72% | 367k | $7.3M (exactly $7,339,129) | Visceral Games |
| | Seed of the Dead: Sweet Home | older | $29.99 | 3,006 83% | 90k | $2.7M (exactly $2,704,498) | TeamKRAMA |
 | BURIED STARS | older | $39.99 | 2,117 83% | 64k | $2.5M (exactly $2,539,765) | LINE Games Corporation |
 | Paper Dolls: Original / 纸人 | older | $16.99 | 4,449 84% | 133k | $2.3M (exactly $2,267,655) | Beijing Litchi Culture Media Co., Ltd. |
 | Alan Wake's American Nightmare | older | $8.99 | 8,352 74% | 251k | $2.3M (exactly $2,252,534) | Remedy Entertainment |
 | Moons of Madness | older | $24.99 | 2,189 77% | 66k | $1.6M (exactly $1,641,093) | Rock Pocket Games |
 | Paper Dolls 2 纸人贰 | older | $19.99 | 2,636 82% | 79k | $1.6M (exactly $1,580,809) | Beijing Litchi Culture Media Co., Ltd. |
 | The Thing: Remastered | $29.99 | 1,203 89% | 36k | $1.1M (exactly $1,082,339) | Nightdive Studios, Computer Artworks | |
 | Granny: Escape Together | $9.99 | 1,661 79% | 50k | $498k (exactly $497,802) | CreepyToad | |
 | Deathground | · EA | $14.99 | 877 61% | 26k | $394k (exactly $394,387) | Jaw Drop Games |
 | Blood Money: Lethal Eden | $8.99 | 1,262 91% | 38k | $340k (exactly $340,361) | 碧火互娱 | |
 | Final Sentence | $9.99 | 1,095 84% | 33k | $328k (exactly $328,172) | Button Mash | |
 | Evil School | $7.99 | 1,058 92% | 32k | $254k (exactly $253,603) | CineGame Interactive | |
 | Arctic Awakening | $24.99 | 328 84% | 9.8k | $246k (exactly $245,902) | GoldFire Studios | |
 | Titanic Escape Simulator™ | $19.99 | 374 52% | 11k | $224k (exactly $224,288) | magicprostudio, Vintage Digital Revival | |
 | Nested Lands | · EA | $14.99 | 482 73% | 14k | $217k (exactly $216,755) | 1M Bits Horde |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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