Should I ship a Horror 6DOF game?
6DOF + Horror
Of 33 developers who shipped a Horror 6DOF 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.. 42 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 $1.2k, ×1.9 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $18k, ×30 the market median. Revenue is up 140% on the market; 42 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $449 (exactly $449) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.2k (exactly $1,199) |
| Top 25% | $2.4k (exactly $2,398) |
| Top 5% | $19k (exactly $18,712) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 33 |
| Released games | 84 |
| Announced | 42 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $7.00 |
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 140% on the market, supply 20% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 8%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- 6DOF; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Exploration, Action, Adventure
- Price point
- $7.00 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, 3D, VR
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.00.
The top 10 games average 74% positive over 3,424 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $450. 9 in 10 of the 22 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 42 games are announced against 15 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
Gorilla Tag 2023 · $32M 
Metro Awakening 2024 · $2.7M 
Death in the Water 2 2023 · $780k 
Kizuna AI - Touch the Beat! 2023 · $68k 
Death Horizon: Reloaded 2023 · $46k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Gorilla Tag | older | $19.99 | 52,637 93% | 1.6M | $32M (exactly $31,566,409) | Another Axiom Inc. |
| | Metro Awakening | $29.99 | 3,013 73% | 90k | $2.7M (exactly $2,710,796) | Vertigo Games | |
| | Death in the Water 2 | older | $14.99 | 1,734 83% | 52k | $780k (exactly $779,780) | Lighthouse Games Studio |
| | Kizuna AI - Touch the Beat! | older | $34.99 | 65 86% | 2.0k | $68k (exactly $68,230) | Gemdrops, Inc. |
| | Death Horizon: Reloaded | older | $19.99 | 76 80% | 2.3k | $46k (exactly $45,577) | Horizon Lab LLP |
 | Death in the Water | older | $2.99 | 278 74% | 8.3k | $25k (exactly $24,937) | Lighthouse Games Studio |
 | A Wake Inn | older | $19.99 | 36 58% | 1.1k | $22k (exactly $21,589) | VR Bros |
 | Penguin Lifter | $4.99 | 125 88% | 3.8k | $19k (exactly $18,712) | Peace_Studio, DonCorsaire | |
 | Rotten Apple | older | $14.99 | 36 83% | 1.1k | $16k (exactly $16,189) | VRilliant Studios |
 | LiveStream: Chapter One | $7.00 | 77 89% | 2.3k | $16k (exactly $16,170) | Artflux_Games | |
 | House of Empty Names | $5.99 | 88 87% | 2.6k | $16k (exactly $15,814) | Sordar Studios | |
 | Death Horizon: Cyberfusion | $7.99 | 61 67% | 1.8k | $15k (exactly $14,622) | Horizon Lab | |
 | Harpagun | $19.99 | 19 73% | 570 | $11k (exactly $11,394) | Something Random | |
 | Evacuation Zone: Tampere | $11.99 | 18 88% | 540 | $6.5k (exactly $6,475) | Virtual Dawn | |
 | GHOST CAM | $10.99 | 10 90% | 300 | $3.3k (exactly $3,297) | ARCH REBELS | |
 | Phantom Asylum VR | · EA | $9.99 | 8 75% | 240 | $2.4k (exactly $2,398) | SRVR |
 | Horror Simulator VR | $14.99 | 5 80% | 150 | $2.2k (exactly $2,248) | Suplife Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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