Do I ship it?

GamesSurvival HorrorSurvival Horror + Top-Down Shooter

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Top-Down Shooter Survival Horror?

Survival Horror + Top-Down Shooter

Of 29 developers who shipped a Top-Down Shooter Survival Horror 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.. 69 more are announced, ×5.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.2k, ×2.0 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $580k, ×924 the market median. Revenue is up 1160% on the market; 69 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.0 times the market baseline, revenue up 1160% on the market, 69 announced, ×5.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Survival Horror + Top-Down Shooter
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 29
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $59 → $359 → $20k → $269 → $299 → $2.1k → $3.2k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Survival Horror + Top-Down Shooter: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 29
Bottom 30% $180 (exactly $180)
Median $1.2k (exactly $1,241)
Top 25% $7.0k (exactly $7,012)
Top 5% $580k (exactly $580,314)
Developers, 2 yr 29
Released games 127
Announced 69
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 up 1160% on the market, supply 20% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 9%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Survival Horror
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Top-Down Shooter
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Survival Horror, Top-Down Shooter; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Action-Adventure
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $11.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, Pixel Graphics, 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $11.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 85% positive over 5,332 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $180, median $1.2k, 1 in 4 over $7.0k, 1 in 20 over $580k.

3 in 10 developers made under $180. 8 in 10 of the 19 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 69 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.3 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Survival Horror with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + FMVFair13 devs · median $31k · 14 announced
  2. + DrivingFair20 devs · median $4.9k · 25 announced
  3. + Tower DefenseFair14 devs · median $1.9k · 16 announced
  4. + IncrementalFair16 devs · median $1.6k · 19 announced
  5. + SnowFair17 devs · median $1.2k · 15 announced
  6. + SportsFair5 devs · median $959 · 3 announced
  7. + Outbreak SimFair22 devs · median $958 · 24 announced
  8. + 3D PlatformerFair111 devs · median $539 · 104 announced
  9. + Boomer ShooterFair27 devs · median $449 · 28 announced
  10. + Turn-Based CombatPoor odds10 devs · median $64k · 42 announced
  11. + LGBTQ+Poor odds17 devs · median $52k · 21 announced
  12. + Spectacle fighterPoor odds8 devs · median $52k · 12 announced

All 159 pairs on the Survival Horror page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Silly Polly Beast $19.99 2,278 90% 68k $1.4M (exactly $1,366,117) Anji
HellSign older $19.99 2,147 67% 64k $1.3M (exactly $1,287,556) Ballistic Interactive
Endoparasitic older $9.99 2,928 93% 88k $878k (exactly $877,522) Miziziziz
Tunguska: The Visitation - Final Cut older $14.99 1,682 87% 50k $756k (exactly $756,395) Rotorist Workshop
Whisper Mountain Outbreak · EA $7.99 2,421 84% 73k $580k (exactly $580,314) Toge Productions
Teleglitch: Die More Edition older $12.99 1,005 88% 30k $392k (exactly $391,648) Test3 Projects
Night Raider older $5.99 1,908 85% 57k $343k (exactly $342,868) TSUKUYOMIC
Ultimate Zombie Defense older $4.99 1,408 86% 42k $211k (exactly $210,778) Terror Dog Studio
GARAGE: Bad Trip older $14.99 404 74% 12k $182k (exactly $181,679) Zombie Dynamics
D'LIRIUM older $4.99 987 96% 30k $148k (exactly $147,754) B52 Development Team
No Escape from Madness $11.99 197 60% 5.9k $71k (exactly $70,861) qiqin
Where the forest ends $9.99 132 68% 4.0k $40k (exactly $39,560) MonkeyBassGames
Seek $4.99 107 81% 3.2k $16k (exactly $16,018) cloud_li
When the Light Dies $4.99 80 71% 2.4k $12k (exactly $11,976) Electric Monkeys, Secret Level Studios
Camelot 10000CE $7.99 47 93% 1.4k $11k (exactly $11,266) Miziziziz
Apocalypse Survivors $8.99 26 57% 780 $7.0k (exactly $7,012) The Last One
Die for the Economy! $7.99 21 100% 630 $5.0k (exactly $5,034) Tea Monster Games
DayOff: Moonriver incident $6.99 23 91% 690 $4.8k (exactly $4,823) jetzackgames

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.