Games › Survival › Survival + Trading
Should I ship a Trading Survival game?
Survival + Trading
Of 42 developers who shipped a Trading 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.. 103 more are announced, ×4.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $4.8k, ×7.6 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $570; 1 in 20 cleared $300k, ×482 the market median. Revenue is up 440% on the market; 103 games are announced against 22 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $564 (exactly $564) |
|---|---|
| Median | $4.8k (exactly $4,798) |
| Top 25% | $20k (exactly $20,093) |
| Top 5% | $303k (exactly $302,981) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 42 |
| Released games | 99 |
| Announced | 103 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 440% on the market, supply 10% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 12%, 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, Trading; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Exploration, Sandbox, Simulation
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 77% positive over 7,355 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $570. 8 in 10 of the 22 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 103 games are announced against 22 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.7 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
Sunkenland 2023 · EA · $12M 
Eco 2018 · EA · $10M 
The Guild 3 2022 · $6.4M 
Ostranauts 2026 · $1.9M 
Starminer 2026 · EA · $1.6M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Sunkenland | · EA older | $19.99 | 20,536 80% | 616k | $12M (exactly $12,315,439) | Vector3 Studio |
| | Eco | · EA older | $29.99 | 11,375 80% | 341k | $10M (exactly $10,234,088) | Strange Loop Games |
| | The Guild 3 | older | $29.99 | 7,120 60% | 214k | $6.4M (exactly $6,405,864) | Purple Lamp, GolemLabs |
| | Ostranauts | $19.99 | 3,137 77% | 94k | $1.9M (exactly $1,881,259) | Blue Bottle Games | |
| | Starminer | · EA | $29.99 | 1,818 72% | 55k | $1.6M (exactly $1,635,655) | CoolAndGoodGames |
 | Sailwind | · EA older | $19.99 | 2,312 89% | 69k | $1.4M (exactly $1,386,506) | Raw Lion Workshop |
 | Interstellar Rift | older | $19.99 | 1,411 66% | 42k | $846k (exactly $846,177) | Split Polygon |
 | Russian Village Simulator | older | $29.99 | 889 84% | 27k | $800k (exactly $799,833) | VD Games, PropilGames |
 | Dust to the End | older | $11.99 | 1,076 78% | 32k | $387k (exactly $387,037) | Haojoy Game, Zjoy Game |
 | Dustland Delivery | $7.99 | 1,264 88% | 38k | $303k (exactly $302,981) | Neutron Star Studio | |
 | Super Movie Tycoon | $16.99 | 323 73% | 9.7k | $165k (exactly $164,633) | Yuedong Game | |
 | A Merchant's Promise | · EA | $14.99 | 300 86% | 9.0k | $135k (exactly $134,910) | Game Draft Studio |
 | Snow Ash | $14.99 | 179 73% | 5.4k | $80k (exactly $80,496) | Ember Studio | |
 | BIG LOOT | · EA | $15.99 | 83 68% | 2.5k | $40k (exactly $39,815) | Reverie Clouds |
 | Russian Village Simulator 2 | $15.99 | 61 70% | 1.8k | $29k (exactly $29,262) | VD Games, PropilGames | |
 | Apocalypse: The Last RV | · EA | $4.99 | 159 68% | 4.8k | $24k (exactly $23,802) | 光年切片工作室 |
 | Union Of Rivals | · EA | $25.49 | 31 64% | 930 | $24k (exactly $23,706) | 2Play |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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