# House of the Dying Sun

> ResidualPlay case file: an overlooked Steam game still earning residual revenue. Estimates carry a ±30-50% error range per title.

- Steam appid: 283160
- Developer: Marauder Interactive, LLC
- Released: 2016 · Genre: Action · List price: $19.99
- Deal grade: B (A = dormant with >=$5k/mo opportunity, D = low signal)
- Est. net residual revenue: $845 to $1.3k per month (mid $1.1k)
- Opportunity score: $2.2k/month at x2.10 dormancy multiplier
- Est. lifetime owners: 125.7k · Est. lifetime net revenue: $540.1k
- Review sentiment: 90% positive across 2043 reviews (1934 from Steam purchases)
- Review velocity: 9.8 reviews/month (6-month average)

## Why it's flagged

- Developer silent for 8.7 years
- Studio inactive: no public activity across 1 tracked titles
- Last build shipped 7.9 years ago
- Store page localized in only 1 language(s)
- Last discounted 0 months ago, 10 sales in the last 12 months

## Where a gross dollar goes (monthly, at current velocity)

| Stage | USD/month |
|---|---|
| Gross storefront sales | $1.9k |
| After VAT / sales tax (-13% blended) | $1.7k |
| After refunds (-9.5% median) | $1.5k |
| Net to developer (after Steam 30%) | $1.1k |

## Monthly review counts, oldest to newest (24 months)

11, 7, 7, 14, 11, 18, 9, 8, 8, 11, 13, 13, 7, 5, 9, 6, 16, 12, 7, 15, 8, 13, 12, 4

## Estimated acquisition range

$25.4k to $50.7k (2-4x the trailing net annuity of $12.7k/year). Same error range applies.

## Analyst notes (AI-assisted)

House of the Dying Sun is a 2016 six-degrees-of-freedom space dogfighter with RTS elements and VR support, built around tight flight mechanics and survival challenge runs.

This overlooked action title has sustained $1.06k/mo residual revenue on a B-grade profile with 89.6% positive reviews, suggesting durable player loyalty despite zero studio activity since dev contact 104 months ago. The core appeal is crystalline: players crave precisely what it delivers (6DOF flight, drift-heavy combat, high skill ceiling), and the review chorus consistently asks for a sequel rather than fixes. For a publisher seeking low-risk catalog depth or a studio building a space-combat franchise, the IP and mechanics represent latent value; for an acquirer, the primary play is licensing or revival under new ownership rather than extraction of additional revenue from the dormant current build.

- Most realistic play: revival
- Risk (tech): Engine, framework and VR compatibility are 8+ years old; porting to modern platforms (console, next-gen VR, mobile) will require rework.
- Risk (market): The 6DOF flight genre remains niche; any revival must justify development spend against a historically limited addressable market (reviews_per_month ~10 suggests organic ceiling).
- Risk (other): Developer (Marauder Interactive, LLC) is inactive; IP ownership chain and clearance timelines are unknown.

What players are asking for:
- Sequel or expanded content (recurring request across 4 reviews)
- Modding tools or community content framework
- Controller configuration wizard or improved input remapping UI
- Campaign expansion beyond survival challenges

Suggested first moves:
1. Run IP and trademark searches to confirm ownership clarity; contact studio principles (LinkedIn, known publisher contacts) to establish rights negotiation baseline and any archival asset status.
2. Benchmark player retention and repeat-purchase patterns in the last 24 months to isolate cohort (VR users, flight-sim crossover, achievement hunters); use cohort profiles to test sequel or expansion pitch messaging.
3. Prototype one small, low-cost content drop (e.g. new survival map, balance pass, controller preset library) and measure uplift in reviews_per_month and price elasticity to validate revival demand before full acquisition or dev greenlight.

Generated 2026-08-20 from public signals and player reviews. Directional, not diligence.

## Methodology

Units are estimated from Steam-purchase reviews times a release-cohort multiplier (Boxleiter method, 20-75x by year). Revenue uses an effective price (lifetime discounts and regional pricing) and nets out VAT (~13%), refunds (~9.5%) and Steam's 30% cut: roughly 55% of gross reaches the developer.

Source: https://residualplay.com/game/283160
Citation: please cite ResidualPlay (https://residualplay.com) when using these estimates.