Games › Survival Horror › Survival Horror + Walking Simulator
Should I ship a Walking Simulator Survival Horror?
Survival Horror + Walking Simulator
Of 325 developers who shipped a Walking Simulator 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.. 386 more are announced, ×2.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.5k, ×2.4 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $140k, ×233 the market median. Revenue is up 30% on the market; 386 games are announced against 187 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $449 (exactly $449) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.5k (exactly $1,497) |
| Top 25% | $6.9k (exactly $6,920) |
| Top 5% | $146k (exactly $146,192) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 325 |
| Released games | 868 |
| Announced | 386 |
| 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 30% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 9%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Walking Simulator
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Survival Horror, Walking Simulator; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration, Action
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
- Art
- 7 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, Atmospheric, Dark
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 83% positive over 21,830 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $450. 8 in 10 of the 194 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 386 games are announced against 187 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Survival Horror with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVFair
- + DrivingFair
- + Tower DefenseFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + SnowFair
- + SportsFair
- + Outbreak SimFair
- + 3D PlatformerFair
- + Boomer ShooterFair
- + Turn-Based CombatPoor odds
- + LGBTQ+Poor odds
- + Spectacle fighterPoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | The Long Dark | older | $19.99 | 110,264 89% | 3.3M | $66M (exactly $66,125,321) | Hinterland Studio Inc. |
| | Outlast | older | $14.99 | 104,353 96% | 3.1M | $47M (exactly $46,927,544) | Red Barrels |
| | SOMA | older | $29.99 | 46,772 95% | 1.4M | $42M (exactly $42,080,768) | Frictional Games |
| | Scorn | older | $49.99 | 14,546 77% | 436k | $22M (exactly $21,814,636) | Ebb Software |
| | Amnesia: The Dark Descent | older | $19.99 | 20,420 95% | 613k | $12M (exactly $12,245,874) | Frictional Games |
| | Visage | older | $34.99 | 8,747 85% | 262k | $9.2M (exactly $9,181,726) | SadSquare Studio |
| | Layers of Fear (2016) | older | $19.99 | 13,172 89% | 395k | $7.9M (exactly $7,899,248) | Bloober Team SA |
| | The Beast Inside | older | $24.99 | 10,528 83% | 316k | $7.9M (exactly $7,892,842) | Illusion Ray |
| | Call of Cthulhu® | older | $19.99 | 10,962 79% | 329k | $6.6M (exactly $6,573,911) | Cyanide Studio |
| | Blair Witch | older | $29.99 | 6,489 78% | 195k | $5.8M (exactly $5,838,153) | Bloober Team SA |
| | ROUTINE | $24.99 | 7,322 91% | 220k | $5.5M (exactly $5,489,303) | Lunar Software | |
| | A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead | $29.99 | 2,331 74% | 70k | $2.1M (exactly $2,097,201) | Stormind Games | |
| | The Scourge | Tai Ương | $19.99 | 1,192 93% | 36k | $715k (exactly $714,842) | Rare Reversee, Beaztek | |
| | DON'T SCREAM TOGETHER | $7.99 | 2,314 49% | 69k | $555k (exactly $554,666) | Digital Cybercherries | |
| | Garten of Banban 8: Anti Devil | $9.99 | 1,574 88% | 47k | $472k (exactly $471,728) | Euphoric Brothers | |
| | Dead Take | $14.99 | 752 87% | 23k | $338k (exactly $338,174) | Surgent Studios | |
| | THRESHOLD | $9.99 | 1,103 84% | 33k | $331k (exactly $330,569) | Julien Eveillé | |
| | The Cabin Factory | $2.99 | 3,455 90% | 104k | $310k (exactly $309,914) | International Cat Studios | |
| | Dread Flats | $5.99 | 1,453 83% | 44k | $261k (exactly $261,104) | Ghostcase | |
| | DYSTHANASIA | $24.99 | 334 88% | 10k | $250k (exactly $250,400) | Madowaku Kobo |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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