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Should I ship an AI 6DOF game?
6DOF + Artificial Intelligence
Only 11 developers shipped an AI 6DOF game in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Grand MALL Simulator, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 14 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $600, level with the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $24k, ×38 the market median. Revenue is down 95% on the market; 14 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $300 (exactly $300) |
|---|---|
| Median | $599 (exactly $599) |
| Top 25% | $11k (exactly $11,394) |
| Top 5% | $24k (exactly $24,080) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 11 |
| Released games | 44 |
| Announced | 14 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $5.99 |
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 down 95% on the market, supply 15% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- 6DOF
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Artificial Intelligence
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- 6DOF
- Price point
- $5.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 10 games average 70% positive over 241 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 8 in 10 of the 6 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 14 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
6DOF with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + RoguelikeFair
- + TacticalFair
- + RobotsFair
- + WarFair
- + Dark FantasyFair
- + Walking SimulatorFair
- + RhythmPoor odds
- + CyberpunkPoor odds
- + MilitaryPoor odds
- + Post-apocalypticPoor odds
- + RomancePoor odds
- + SandboxPoor odds
Comparable games
VTOL VR 2017 · $18M 
Hubris 2022 · $737k 
MOTHERGUNSHIP: FORGE 2022 · $152k 
Laptop Tycoon 2021 · $96k 
AI Drone Simulator 2021 · $93k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | VTOL VR | older | $29.99 | 19,885 98% | 597k | $18M (exactly $17,890,534) | Boundless Dynamics, LLC |
| | Hubris | older | $29.99 | 819 74% | 25k | $737k (exactly $736,854) | Cyborn B.V. |
| | MOTHERGUNSHIP: FORGE | older | $19.99 | 253 93% | 7.6k | $152k (exactly $151,724) | Terrible Posture Games |
| | Laptop Tycoon | older | $7.99 | 400 74% | 12k | $96k (exactly $95,880) | Roastery Games |
| | AI Drone Simulator | older | $14.99 | 206 83% | 6.2k | $93k (exactly $92,638) | Diophante Studio |
 | Racket Club | older | $24.99 | 58 68% | 1.7k | $43k (exactly $43,483) | Resolution Games |
 | Black Hole Pool VR | older | $19.99 | 43 79% | 1.3k | $26k (exactly $25,787) | Pixel Works Ltd. |
 | Grand MALL Simulator | · EA | $5.99 | 134 79% | 4.0k | $24k (exactly $24,080) | Minds2Bros |
 | Mare | older | $19.99 | 39 79% | 1.2k | $23k (exactly $23,388) | Lonekite Games |
 | Death Horizon: Cyberfusion | $7.99 | 61 67% | 1.8k | $15k (exactly $14,622) | Horizon Lab | |
 | Human Within | $19.99 | 19 52% | 570 | $11k (exactly $11,394) | Signal Space Lab, Actrio Studio | |
 | Samsara | $9.99 | 6 50% | 180 | $1.8k (exactly $1,798) | Narriflux | |
 | Th3_M1dday_L4dies | $5.99 | 9 44% | 270 | $1.6k (exactly $1,617) | nonhumans | |
 | Shadows of the Past | $4.99 | 4 0% | 120 | $599 (exactly $599) | SomeTimesAtNight | |
 | Harvester Arno | $3.99 | 3 66% | 90 | $359 (exactly $359) | LAL | |
 | Glory Defence | $9.99 | 1 0% | 30 | $300 (exactly $300) | Waytrel Studio | |
 | Arsonist '24 Director's Cut | $1.99 | 2 50% | 60 | $119 (exactly $119) | lollipopsss, R. Mirkulić | |
 | Robotic Arm Simulator | $0.99 | 2 100% | 60 | $59 (exactly $59) | KUOKUO |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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