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Should I ship a Lovecraftian game?
Lovecraftian
Of 418 developers who shipped a Lovecraftian 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.. 854 more are announced, ×3.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $4.0k, ×8.5 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $900; 1 in 20 cleared $560k, ×1182 the market median. Revenue is up 85% on the market; 854 games are announced against 229 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $897 (exactly $897) |
|---|---|
| Median | $4.0k (exactly $4,042) |
| Top 25% | $28k (exactly $27,872) |
| Top 5% | $561k (exactly $561,319) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 418 |
| Released games | 1,247 |
| Announced | 854 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 85% on the market, supply 15% 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.
- Lovecraftian
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Price point
- $7.99 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 $7.99.
The top 10 games average 91% positive over 57,701 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $900. 8 in 10 of the 222 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 854 games are announced against 229 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.7 per shipper.
All pairs with Lovecraftian
No pair with Lovecraftian has 25 games yet.
Comparable games
Darkest Dungeon® 2016 · $106M 
Remnant: From the Ashes 2019 · $57M 
SOMA 2015 · $42M 
Lobotomy Corporation | Monster Management Simulation 2018 · $39M 
DREDGE 2023 · $36M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Darkest Dungeon® | older | $24.99 | 140,790 91% | 4.2M | $106M (exactly $105,550,263) | Red Hook Studios |
| | Remnant: From the Ashes | older | $39.99 | 47,193 84% | 1.4M | $57M (exactly $56,617,442) | Gunfire Games |
| | SOMA | older | $29.99 | 46,772 95% | 1.4M | $42M (exactly $42,080,768) | Frictional Games |
| | Lobotomy Corporation | Monster Management Simulation | older | $24.99 | 52,522 94% | 1.6M | $39M (exactly $39,375,743) | ProjectMoon |
| | DREDGE | older | $24.99 | 47,624 95% | 1.4M | $36M (exactly $35,703,713) | Black Salt Games |
 | Darkest Dungeon® II | older | $39.99 | 24,249 74% | 727k | $29M (exactly $29,091,525) | Red Hook Studios |
 | What Remains of Edith Finch | older | $19.99 | 47,036 95% | 1.4M | $28M (exactly $28,207,489) | Giant Sparrow |
 | Scorn | older | $49.99 | 14,546 77% | 436k | $22M (exactly $21,814,636) | Ebb Software |
 | CARRION | older | $19.99 | 33,270 94% | 998k | $20M (exactly $19,952,019) | Phobia Game Studio |
 | SIGNALIS | older | $19.99 | 30,601 96% | 918k | $18M (exactly $18,351,420) | rose-engine |
 | Magicraft | $15.99 | 15,051 92% | 452k | $7.2M (exactly $7,219,965) | Wave Games | |
 | Hell is Us | $49.99 | 4,279 83% | 128k | $6.4M (exactly $6,417,216) | Rogue Factor | |
 | Look Outside | $9.99 | 13,586 98% | 408k | $4.1M (exactly $4,071,724) | Francis Coulombe | |
 | BLACK SOULS | $13.99 | 7,337 95% | 220k | $3.1M (exactly $3,079,339) | Eeny, meeny, miny, moe? | |
 | The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu | $29.99 | 3,107 69% | 93k | $2.8M (exactly $2,795,368) | ACE Team | |
 | Pathologic 3 | $34.99 | 2,528 80% | 76k | $2.7M (exactly $2,653,642) | Ice-Pick Lodge | |
 | BLACK SOULS II | $13.99 | 5,277 97% | 158k | $2.2M (exactly $2,214,757) | Eeny, meeny, miny, moe? | |
 | ZEPHON | $39.99 | 1,838 83% | 55k | $2.2M (exactly $2,205,049) | Proxy Studios | |
 | The Sinking City 2 | $49.99 | 1,410 83% | 42k | $2.1M (exactly $2,114,577) | Frogwares | |
 | Strange Antiquities | $17.99 | 3,288 95% | 99k | $1.8M (exactly $1,774,534) | Bad Viking |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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