Do I ship it?

Games6DOF6DOF + Space

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Space 6DOF game?

6DOF + Space

Of 37 developers who shipped a Space 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.. 67 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 $1.2k, ×1.9 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $230k, ×378 the market median. Revenue is up 1250% on the market; 67 games are announced against 25 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.9 times the market baseline, revenue up 1250% on the market, 67 announced, ×2.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
6DOF + Space
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 37
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $899 → $390 → $2.4k → $899 → $2.7k → $150 → $5.8k (still earning) → $1.5k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for 6DOF + Space: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 37
Bottom 30% $179 (exactly $179)
Median $1.2k (exactly $1,198)
Top 25% $5.8k (exactly $5,846)
Top 5% $238k (exactly $237,541)
Developers, 2 yr 37
Released games 152
Announced 67
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 1250% on the market, supply 90% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 11%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

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
Space
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
6DOF; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Simulation, Shooter
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with VR, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 81% positive over 4,307 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $180, median $1.2k, 1 in 4 over $5.8k, 1 in 20 over $230k.

3 in 10 developers made under $180. All of the 14 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 67 games are announced against 25 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

6DOF with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + RoguelikeFair15 devs · median $4.7k · 7 announced
  2. + TacticalFair14 devs · median $2.4k · 19 announced
  3. + RobotsFair10 devs · median $2.2k · 12 announced
  4. + WarFair11 devs · median $1.8k · 10 announced
  5. + Dark FantasyFair12 devs · median $1.8k · 12 announced
  6. + Walking SimulatorFair29 devs · median $958 · 39 announced
  7. + RhythmPoor odds12 devs · median $11k · 9 announced
  8. + CyberpunkPoor odds8 devs · median $9.6k · 17 announced
  9. + MilitaryPoor odds10 devs · median $7.6k · 17 announced
  10. + Post-apocalypticPoor odds12 devs · median $6.5k · 15 announced
  11. + RomancePoor odds13 devs · median $3.6k · 8 announced
  12. + SandboxPoor odds32 devs · median $3.6k · 69 announced

All 90 pairs on the 6DOF page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
EVERSPACE™ older $19.99 9,809 77% 294k $5.9M (exactly $5,882,457) ROCKFISH Games
Angels Fall First $17.99 3,835 81% 115k $2.1M (exactly $2,069,749) Strangely Interactive Ltd
Overload older $29.99 1,649 94% 49k $1.5M (exactly $1,483,605) Revival Productions, LLC
Hubris older $29.99 819 74% 25k $737k (exactly $736,854) Cyborn B.V.
Red Matter 2 older $29.99 673 92% 20k $605k (exactly $605,498) Vertical Robot
Flight Of Nova · EA older $29.99 537 93% 16k $483k (exactly $483,139) Aerovery Lab
Evochron Legacy SE older $24.99 415 82% 12k $311k (exactly $311,126) StarWraith 3D Games LLC
Descent older $19.99 462 96% 14k $277k (exactly $277,061) Parallax
Underspace · EA older $19.99 434 81% 13k $260k (exactly $260,270) Pastaspace Interactive
Captain Hardcore · EA $39.99 198 80% 5.9k $238k (exactly $237,541) AntiZero Games
Elvenfoundry $34.99 46 67% 1.4k $48k (exactly $48,286) SunbathGames
Alliance Peacefighter $18.99 56 83% 1.7k $32k (exactly $31,903) Urban Logic Games
IRON GUARD: Salvation $17.99 44 93% 1.3k $24k (exactly $23,747) Xlab Digital
Max Mustard $19.99 38 94% 1.1k $23k (exactly $22,789) Toast Interactive
Spacefleet: Heat Death · EA $11.99 36 86% 1.1k $13k (exactly $12,949) Spacezero Interactive
RAGER $19.99 16 100% 480 $9.6k (exactly $9,595) Insane Prey
Wrath and Retribution $9.99 23 91% 690 $6.9k (exactly $6,893) Mad Vulture Games
Sylph $12.99 15 73% 450 $5.8k (exactly $5,846) Softmax Foundries

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.