# UnderMine

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

- Steam appid: 656350
- Developer: Thorium
- Released: 2020 · Genre: Action · List price: $19.99
- Deal grade: B (A = dormant with >=$5k/mo opportunity, D = low signal)
- Est. net residual revenue: $2.0k to $2.9k per month (mid $2.5k)
- Opportunity score: $3.7k/month at x1.50 dormancy multiplier
- Est. lifetime owners: 278.3k · Est. lifetime net revenue: $1.2M
- Review sentiment: 90% positive across 9845 reviews (9277 from Steam purchases)
- Review velocity: 22.8 reviews/month (6-month average)

## Why it's flagged

- Developer active, last post 0 months ago
- Studio active elsewhere (2 titles tracked), so this one may welcome a partner
- Last build shipped 4.8 years ago
- Last discounted 1 months ago, 11 sales in the last 12 months

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

| Stage | USD/month |
|---|---|
| Gross storefront sales | $4.5k |
| After VAT / sales tax (-13% blended) | $3.9k |
| After refunds (-9.5% median) | $3.5k |
| Net to developer (after Steam 30%) | $2.5k |

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

57, 44, 30, 30, 50, 62, 26, 22, 20, 29, 33, 292, 190, 55, 36, 35, 24, 39, 25, 18, 23, 20, 23, 28

## Estimated acquisition range

$58.9k to $117.7k (2-4x the trailing net annuity of $29.4k/year). Same error range applies.

## Analyst notes (AI-assisted)

UnderMine is a roguelite dungeon crawler with progression-based mechanics and persistent upgrades that reward deep mining and experimentation.

UnderMine has generated $1.2M lifetime on modest $19.99 pricing and maintains a 90% positive rating, but generates only $2.5K/mo residually despite 278K lifetime units sold. The game's core loop, discovery, progression, and incremental stat growth, resonates with players who find value in bundles and deep sales, yet current monetization and post-game content appear insufficient to sustain engagement. Revival through seasonal content, balance patches targeting the complained-about build variety ceiling, or a sequel greenlight would be the highest-ROI plays for an established indie publisher or live-service platform.

- Most realistic play: revival
- Risk (market): Genre saturation in roguelites means UnderMine competes against free-to-play and premium titles with significantly larger live-ops budgets; elasticity of 0.78 suggests price cuts are the primary lever to drive volume, eroding margins.
- Risk (other): Player feedback indicates build variety is capped at 2 effective archetypes and item loot tables are repetitive, which limits endgame depth and streamer appeal.
- Risk (other): Post-game content (New Game+) was initially viewed as weak by players, though one reviewer revised that judgment; unclear if subsequent patches improved retention or if the ceiling remains low.

What players are asking for:
- Expand build variety and viable load-outs beyond current two-archetype ceiling
- Increase item pool diversity or implement smarter loot weighting to reduce repetition in late runs
- Clarify and improve end-game progression goals and incentives

Suggested first moves:
1. Audit live-ops roadmap: implement seasonal cosmetics, leaderboards, or limited-time dungeons to refresh monthly active user baseline above $2.5K/mo.
2. Commission balance/content patch targeting build diversity: add 2-3 new viable archetypes and implement loot-table frequency analysis to surface hidden items and reduce perceived item repetition.
3. Evaluate sequel or spiritual successor greenlight: with 278K units and strong IP momentum in roguelite space, a sequel built on learnings (tighter build economy, deeper endgame) could capture the audience currently priced out by $19.99 and capture the enthusiast segment that would pay $24.99-29.99 for expanded mechanics.

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/656350
Citation: please cite ResidualPlay (https://residualplay.com) when using these estimates.