Games › 6DOF › 6DOF + Interactive Fiction
Should I ship an Interactive Fiction 6DOF game?
6DOF + Interactive Fiction
Only 14 developers shipped an Interactive Fiction 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, VR-Kanojo, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 16 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.5k, ×2.4 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $290k, ×462 the market median. Revenue is up 715% on the market; 16 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $450 (exactly $450) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.5k (exactly $1,499) |
| Top 25% | $3.7k (exactly $3,748) |
| Top 5% | $290k (exactly $290,347) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 14 |
| Released games | 70 |
| Announced | 16 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $19.99 |
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 715% on the market, supply 35% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 26%, 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
- Interactive Fiction
- effort 1 / 10 · high · prose plus a state machine
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- 6DOF, Interactive Fiction; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Dating Sim, Immersive Sim, Adventure
- Price point
- $19.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 7 in 10 of the top 25% ship with VR, 3D, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $19.99.
The top 10 games average 66% positive over 261 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $450. 9 in 10 of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 16 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
6DOF with a different second tag, 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
VR Paradise - Steam Edition 2019 · $571k 
VR-Kanojo 2025 · $290k 
Maskmaker 2021 · $76k 
Gloomy Eyes VR 2020 · $50k 
The Secret of Retropolis 2021 · $49k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | VR Paradise - Steam Edition | older | $19.99 | 952 86% | 29k | $571k (exactly $570,914) | Totem Entertainment |
| | VR-Kanojo | $54.99 | 176 63% | 5.3k | $290k (exactly $290,347) | ILLUMINATION | |
| | Maskmaker | older | $9.99 | 254 93% | 7.6k | $76k (exactly $76,124) | InnerspaceVR |
| | Gloomy Eyes VR | older | $8.99 | 186 88% | 5.6k | $50k (exactly $50,164) | 3DAR, Atlas V |
| | The Secret of Retropolis | older | $9.99 | 162 92% | 4.9k | $49k (exactly $48,551) | Peanut Button |
 | STAY ALIVE MY SON (VR): A True Story About A Father's Relentless Search For His Son | older | $19.99 | 36 100% | 1.1k | $22k (exactly $21,589) | UME STUDIOS |
 | Ionia | older | $8.99 | 79 69% | 2.4k | $21k (exactly $21,306) | ROTU Entertainment & Media, Ltd. |
 | Fetish Club | older | $24.99 | 23 60% | 690 | $17k (exactly $17,243) | SinVR |
 | VR Harem Life ~ Your Room Became a Hang-Out for Girls!? ~ | older | $18.99 | 22 72% | 660 | $13k (exactly $12,533) | SK Soft |
 | Hentai Dolls | $19.99 | 20 80% | 600 | $12k (exactly $11,994) | SinVR | |
 | Human Within | $19.99 | 19 52% | 570 | $11k (exactly $11,394) | Signal Space Lab, Actrio Studio | |
 | Cyber Freeuse Fantasy | $19.99 | 16 68% | 480 | $9.6k (exactly $9,595) | SinVR | |
 | Fantasex Chronicles | $19.99 | 11 90% | 330 | $6.6k (exactly $6,597) | SinVR | |
 | SKY LEGENDS - An Aeropostal Epic | $24.99 | 5 60% | 150 | $3.7k (exactly $3,748) | SUPER AC | |
 | DiveInLoveVR | $34.99 | 3 100% | 90 | $3.1k (exactly $3,149) | LMTD | |
 | Out of Time | $12.99 | 7 71% | 210 | $2.7k (exactly $2,728) | KTVR Lab | |
 | Life with VRoid | $24.99 | 2 100% | 60 | $1.5k (exactly $1,499) | SK Soft | |
 | IF YOU SEE A CAT | $19.99 | 2 100% | 60 | $1.2k (exactly $1,199) | Kodansha, Kodansha VR Lab |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.