Do I ship it?

Games › Survival Horror › Survival Horror + Tower Defense

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Tower Defense Survival Horror?

Survival Horror + Tower Defense

Only 14 developers shipped a Tower Defense Survival Horror 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, DarkSwitch, 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.

Verdict: fair, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.9k, ×2.9 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $120. Revenue is down 25% on the market; 16 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.9 times the market baseline, revenue down 25% on the market, 16 announced, ×2.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Survival Horror + Tower Defense
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 14
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.4k → $119 → $4.8k → $1.4k → $1.1k (still earning) → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Survival Horror + Tower Defense: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 14
Bottom 30% $119 (exactly $119)
Median $1.9k (exactly $1,851)
Top 25% $44k (exactly $44,012)
Top 5% $749k (exactly $749,486)
Developers, 2 yr 14
Released games 46
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 25% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 7%, 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
Tower Defense
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, Tower Defense
Price point
$6.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 10 games average 85% positive over 1,706 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $120, median $1.9k, 1 in 4 over $44k, 1 in 20 over $740k.

3 in 10 developers made under $120. 7 in 10 of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 16 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year.

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. + IncrementalFair16 devs · median $1.6k · 19 announced
  4. + SnowFair17 devs · median $1.2k · 15 announced
  5. + SportsFair5 devs · median $959 · 3 announced
  6. + Outbreak SimFair22 devs · median $958 · 24 announced
  7. + 3D PlatformerFair111 devs · median $539 · 104 announced
  8. + Boomer ShooterFair27 devs · median $449 · 28 announced
  9. + Turn-Based CombatPoor odds10 devs · median $64k · 42 announced
  10. + LGBTQ+Poor odds17 devs · median $52k · 21 announced
  11. + Spectacle fighterPoor odds8 devs · median $52k · 12 announced
  12. + Social DeductionPoor odds14 devs · median $18k · 17 announced

All 159 pairs on the Survival Horror page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Night of the Dead 2024 · $9.3M The Last Stand Legacy Collection 2021 · $783k DarkSwitch 2026 · $749k METAL SLUG ATTACK RELOADED 2024 · $491k Glory & Miserable Survivors DX 2023 · $446k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Night of the Dead older $29.99 10,380 77% 311k $9.3M (exactly $9,338,886) Jackto Studios
The Last Stand Legacy Collection older $9.99 2,614 89% 78k $783k (exactly $783,416) Con Artist Games
DarkSwitch $34.99 714 77% 21k $749k (exactly $749,486) Cyber Temple
METAL SLUG ATTACK RELOADED older $9.99 1,639 69% 49k $491k (exactly $491,208) SNK CORPORATION
Glory & Miserable Survivors DX older $9.99 1,488 88% 45k $446k (exactly $445,954) TLACHTLI
CleanFall · EA $19.99 492 92% 15k $295k (exactly $295,052) Humanyoyo
Ultimate Zombie Defense older $4.99 1,408 86% 42k $211k (exactly $210,778) Terror Dog Studio
KUNKUN Defender older $2.99 822 97% 25k $74k (exactly $73,733) Seal
Repterra $19.99 122 90% 3.7k $73k (exactly $73,163) Chute Apps
KUNKUN Defender 2 $4.99 294 94% 8.8k $44k (exactly $44,012) Seal
No Ticket Back: Craft, Survive & Escape $9.99 16 87% 480 $4.8k (exactly $4,795) GameEraStudios
Haunted Dorm $10.99 8 50% 240 $2.6k (exactly $2,638) mihuangame
STAND: Survive, Team-up, And Never Die $1.99 31 67% 930 $1.9k (exactly $1,851) Studio Jylko
Spin to Survive $2.99 16 93% 480 $1.4k (exactly $1,435) Seal
Night of Nightmare $3.99 9 44% 270 $1.1k (exactly $1,077) Enter the Game Studios
Maze and Fairy tale $6.99 4 100% 120 $839 (exactly $839) HJ Game Studio

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