Should I ship a Magic 6DOF game?
6DOF + Magic
Of 20 developers who shipped a Magic 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.. 26 more are announced, ×2.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $840, ×1.3 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $330; 1 in 20 cleared $13k, ×21 the market median. Revenue is up 125% on the market; 26 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $330 (exactly $330) |
|---|---|
| Median | $836 (exactly $836) |
| Top 25% | $1.8k (exactly $1,799) |
| Top 5% | $13k (exactly $13,193) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 20 |
| Released games | 54 |
| Announced | 26 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 125% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 17%, 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; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Bullet Time, Physics
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $59.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with VR, First-Person, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $59.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 76% positive over 81 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $330. All of the 10 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 26 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 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
Maskmaker 2021 · $76k 
Ionia 2021 · $21k 
The Prism 2015 · $19k 
Little Witch Academia: VR Broom Racing 2021 · $18k 
NMNE 2021 · $16k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Maskmaker | older | $9.99 | 254 93% | 7.6k | $76k (exactly $76,124) | InnerspaceVR |
| | Ionia | older | $8.99 | 79 69% | 2.4k | $21k (exactly $21,306) | ROTU Entertainment & Media, Ltd. |
| | The Prism | older | $4.99 | 127 68% | 3.8k | $19k (exactly $19,012) | Nikhil. T, Gabriel. H |
| | Little Witch Academia: VR Broom Racing | older | $29.99 | 20 90% | 600 | $18k (exactly $17,994) | UNIVRS, Inc. |
| | NMNE | older | $9.99 | 52 78% | 1.6k | $16k (exactly $15,584) | AK Studio |
 | Glassbreakers: Champions of Moss | $19.99 | 22 63% | 660 | $13k (exactly $13,193) | Polyarc | |
 | Wands Alliances | older | $19.99 | 8 75% | 240 | $4.8k (exactly $4,798) | Cortopia Studios |
 | Kooring VR Wonderland:Mecadino's Attack | older | $15.99 | 10 100% | 300 | $4.8k (exactly $4,797) | VRANI inc. |
 | HexWind | $11.99 | 13 100% | 390 | $4.7k (exactly $4,676) | Charm Games | |
 | The Magic World | older | $10.99 | 11 72% | 330 | $3.6k (exactly $3,627) | Flame-Dragons, Dmitriy Belonovskiy |
 | AI Games | $59.99 | 2 50% | 60 | $3.6k (exactly $3,599) | SUNYU Games | |
 | CINESCAPE VR | $14.99 | 5 60% | 150 | $2.2k (exactly $2,248) | SUPER AC | |
 | Shopenkraft's Magic Goods | $14.99 | 4 50% | 120 | $1.8k (exactly $1,799) | Ingenious Studios | |
 | RHYTHMIC | · EA | $9.99 | 5 80% | 150 | $1.5k (exactly $1,498) | Polar Studios Robin Kammel |
 | Echowood | $9.99 | 5 100% | 150 | $1.5k (exactly $1,498) | SansaraDev | |
 | Painted Legend: Knights of Ink & Paper | $6.99 | 5 100% | 150 | $1.0k (exactly $1,048) | Storyan teaM | |
 | Landmaster | · EA | $4.99 | 6 33% | 180 | $898 (exactly $898) | Creative Quark |
 | Slashboy | $1.99 | 14 92% | 420 | $836 (exactly $836) | Punch Game Project |
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.