Do I ship it?

Games › Social Deduction › Social Deduction + Action

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Action Social Deduction game?

Social Deduction + Action

Of 46 developers who shipped an Action Social Deduction 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.. 81 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.7k, ×1.1 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $530k, ×360 the market median. Revenue is down 25% on the market; 81 games are announced against 33 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.1 times the market baseline, revenue down 25% on the market, 81 announced, ×2.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Social Deduction + Action
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 46
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $67k → $1.8k → $4.8k → $2.5k → $1.7k (still earning) → $629 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Social Deduction + Action: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 46
Bottom 30% $300 (exactly $300)
Median $1.7k (exactly $1,678)
Top 25% $13k (exactly $13,486)
Top 5% $539k (exactly $539,460)
Developers, 2 yr 46
Released games 102
Announced 81
Effort 7 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $6.99

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 25% on the market, supply 155% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 25%, 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 low: the lowest rating among its tags.

Social Deduction
effort 7 / 10 · low · online lobbies, voice or chat, live player base
Action
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
Systems
Social Deduction, Action; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry PvP, Online Co-Op, Co-op
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person, Funny
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 84% positive over 28,881 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $300, median $1.7k, 1 in 4 over $13k, 1 in 20 over $530k.

3 in 10 developers made under $300. 8 in 10 of the 16 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 81 games are announced against 33 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Social Deduction with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + SurvivalFair31 devs · median $6.2k · 35 announced
  2. + PsychologicalFair25 devs · median $4.8k · 34 announced
  3. + SimulationFair14 devs · median $1.5k · 25 announced
  4. + PuzzleLong shot15 devs · median $899 · 22 announced
  5. + Board GameLong shot13 devs · median $899 · 14 announced
  6. + Survival HorrorPoor odds14 devs · median $18k · 17 announced
  7. + HorrorPoor odds22 devs · median $10k · 35 announced
  8. + AdventurePoor odds16 devs · median $6.6k · 23 announced
  9. + Character CustomizationPoor odds15 devs · median $4.0k · 32 announced
  10. + PvPPoor odds77 devs · median $2.2k · 134 announced
  11. + RPGPoor odds15 devs · median $2.2k · 25 announced
  12. + Online Co-OpPoor odds61 devs · median $1.5k · 102 announced

All 21 pairs on the Social Deduction page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Among Us 2018 · $99M LOCKDOWN Protocol 2025 · $5.0M Town of Salem 2014 · $4.6M Project Winter 2019 · $4.1M Deceive Inc. 2023 · $2.9M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Among Us older $4.99 659,003 92% 20M $99M (exactly $98,652,749) Innersloth
LOCKDOWN Protocol $9.99 16,605 86% 498k $5.0M (exactly $4,976,518) Mirage Creative Lab
Town of Salem older $4.99 30,882 88% 926k $4.6M (exactly $4,623,035) BlankMediaGames
Project Winter older $9.99 13,662 84% 410k $4.1M (exactly $4,094,501) Other Ocean Interactive
Deceive Inc. older $19.99 4,755 84% 143k $2.9M (exactly $2,851,574) Sweet Bandits Studios
In Silence older $9.99 9,450 75% 284k $2.8M (exactly $2,832,165) Ravenhood Games
MIMESIS · EA $9.99 8,396 84% 252k $2.5M (exactly $2,516,281) ReLU Games, Inc.
First Class Trouble older $14.99 3,103 79% 93k $1.4M (exactly $1,395,419) Invisible Walls
Perfect Heist 2 older $9.99 3,711 94% 111k $1.1M (exactly $1,112,187) yeswecamp
SpyParty · EA older $24.99 1,140 77% 34k $855k (exactly $854,658) Chris Hecker, John Cimino
Sinister Night 2 $9.99 1,800 86% 54k $539k (exactly $539,460) Bug Inventors
KILLER INN · EA $9.99 670 44% 20k $201k (exactly $200,799) Square Enix, Tactic Studios
Airport Security Sucks! $7.99 458 85% 14k $110k (exactly $109,783) JakeHub, Metater
MISTERY $11.99 290 64% 8.7k $104k (exactly $104,313) Game Frontier
Cursed Companions $8.99 345 79% 10k $93k (exactly $93,046) Crimson Forge Studios
WISE GUYS · EA $8.99 194 90% 5.8k $52k (exactly $52,322) StonieDude
SpyHunt $9.99 84 77% 2.5k $25k (exactly $25,175) Mamkalo
DreadHaunt $19.99 39 64% 1.2k $23k (exactly $23,388) Digital Happiness

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