Do I ship it?

Games › Settings › Psychological Horror

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Psychological-Horror game?

Psychological Horror

Of 3,601 developers who shipped a Psychological-Horror 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.. 5,584 more are announced, ×2.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.8k, ×3.8 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $480; 1 in 20 cleared $300k, ×635 the market median. Revenue is up 10% on the market; 5,584 games are announced against 2,117 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.8 times the market baseline, revenue up 10% on the market, 5,584 announced, ×2.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Psychological Horror
Fig. 1 · this niche among 355
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 3,601
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $4.5k → $3.7k → $3.5k → $2.3k → $2.4k → $1.9k → $1.3k (still earning) → $958 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Psychological Horror: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 3,601
Bottom 30% $478 (exactly $478)
Median $1.8k (exactly $1,794)
Top 25% $10k (exactly $10,073)
Top 5% $301k (exactly $301,392)
Developers, 2 yr 3,601
Released games 10,277
Announced 5,584
Effort 3 / 10
AI-buildability High
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 10% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 14%, excluded from money figures.

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Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

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

Psychological Horror
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 87% positive over 770,191 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $480, median $1.8k, 1 in 4 over $10k, 1 in 20 over $300k.

3 in 10 developers made under $480. 8 in 10 of the 2,059 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 5,584 games are announced against 2,117 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 per shipper.

Plate 6 · every pair with this tag

All pairs with Psychological Horror

139 pairs · ranked by verdict, then medianwith: mechanics · settings · any
  1. Parkour + Psychological Horror Poor odds $1.0k 72 devs
  2. Perma Death + Psychological Horror Poor odds $1.0k 127 devs
  3. Puzzle Platformer + Psychological Horror Poor odds $971 131 devs
  4. Strategy + Psychological Horror Poor odds $899 333 devs
  5. 3D Platformer + Psychological Horror Poor odds $899 227 devs
  6. Logic + Psychological Horror Poor odds $899 168 devs
  7. Dungeon Crawler + Psychological Horror Poor odds $899 122 devs
  8. Top-Down Shooter + Psychological Horror Poor odds $897 16 devs
  9. Precision Platformer + Psychological Horror Poor odds $719 158 devs
  10. Action RPG + Psychological Horror Poor odds $719 69 devs
  11. Collectathon + Psychological Horror Poor odds $718 63 devs
  12. Hack and Slash + Psychological Horror Poor odds $718 29 devs
  13. Party-Based RPG + Psychological Horror Poor odds $718 17 devs
  14. Space Sim + Psychological Horror Poor odds $718 12 devs
  15. Time Manipulation + Psychological Horror Poor odds $628 19 devs
  16. Arena Shooter + Psychological Horror Poor odds $539 19 devs
  17. Board Game + Psychological Horror Poor odds $539 15 devs
  18. Quick-Time Events + Psychological Horror Poor odds $538 47 devs
  19. Bullet Hell + Psychological Horror Poor odds $449 24 devs
  20. Mystery Dungeon + Psychological Horror Poor odds $300 75 devs
  21. Looter Shooter + Psychological Horror Poor odds $180 11 devs
  22. Shoot 'Em Up + Psychological Horror Poor odds $30 15 devs
  23. Beat 'em up + Psychological Horror Dead $9.3k 8 devs
  24. 2D Fighter + Psychological Horror Dead $9.3k 5 devs
  25. Minigames + Psychological Horror Dead $8.6k 6 devs
  26. God Game + Psychological Horror Dead $4.9k 10 devs
  27. Flight + Psychological Horror Dead $2.7k 10 devs
  28. 4 Player Local + Psychological Horror Dead $2.7k 8 devs
  29. Solitaire + Psychological Horror Dead $2.3k 12 devs
  30. Sports + Psychological Horror Dead $2.2k 14 devs
  31. Sokoban + Psychological Horror Dead $2.1k 4 devs
  32. Wargame + Psychological Horror Dead $2.0k 6 devs
  33. Hero Shooter + Psychological Horror Dead $1.8k 7 devs
  34. Base Building + Psychological Horror Dead $1.4k 7 devs
  35. Intentionally Awkward Controls + Psychological Horror Dead $1.2k 17 devs
  36. 3D Fighter + Psychological Horror Dead $807 9 devs
  37. Runner + Psychological Horror Dead $449 45 devs
  38. Score Attack + Psychological Horror Dead $300 35 devs
  39. Real Time Tactics + Psychological Horror Dead $30 17 devs
Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

HELLDIVERS™ 2 2024 · $1.0B Dead by Daylight 2016 · $411M Phasmophobia 2020 · EA · $410M Ready or Not 2023 · $398M Resident Evil 4 2023 · $224M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
HELLDIVERS™ 2 older $39.99 838,901 76% 25M $1.0B (exactly $1,006,429,530) Arrowhead Game Studios
Dead by Daylight older $19.99 685,423 78% 21M $411M (exactly $411,048,173) Behaviour Interactive Inc.
Phasmophobia · EA older $19.99 684,009 94% 21M $410M (exactly $410,200,197) Kinetic Games
Ready or Not older $49.99 265,219 79% 8.0M $398M (exactly $397,748,934) VOID Interactive
Resident Evil 4 older $39.99 186,701 97% 5.6M $224M (exactly $223,985,190) CAPCOM Co., Ltd.
Half-Life: Alyx older $59.99 93,001 98% 2.8M $167M (exactly $167,373,900) Valve
Resident Evil Village older $39.99 106,447 95% 3.2M $128M (exactly $127,704,466) CAPCOM Co., Ltd.
Lethal Company · EA older $9.99 411,550 97% 12M $123M (exactly $123,341,535) Zeekerss
Split Fiction $49.99 78,378 97% 2.4M $118M (exactly $117,543,487) Hazelight Studios
Dead Space older $59.99 62,997 90% 1.9M $113M (exactly $113,375,701) Motive
Subnautica 2 · EA $29.99 116,852 91% 3.5M $105M (exactly $105,131,744) Unknown Worlds Entertainment
SILENT HILL 2 $69.99 43,367 94% 1.3M $91M (exactly $91,057,690) Bloober Team SA
Escape from Tarkov $49.99 55,824 49% 1.7M $84M (exactly $83,719,253) Battlestate Games
Dragon Age™: The Veilguard $59.99 41,393 67% 1.2M $74M (exactly $74,494,982) BioWare
MiSide $14.99 122,007 97% 3.7M $55M (exactly $54,866,548) AIHASTO
Marathon $39.99 44,919 81% 1.3M $54M (exactly $53,889,324) Bungie
My Summer Car $14.99 108,503 94% 3.3M $49M (exactly $48,793,799) Amistech Games
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 $69.99 21,633 59% 649k $45M (exactly $45,422,810) Asobo Studio
Escape the Backrooms $9.99 137,315 90% 4.1M $41M (exactly $41,153,306) Fancy Games, Blackbird Interactive

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