Games › Action-Adventure › Action-Adventure + Mystery
Should I ship a Mystery Action-Adventure?
Action-Adventure + Mystery
Of 771 developers who shipped a Mystery Action-Adventure 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.. 1,552 more are announced, ×3.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $840, ×1.3 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $240; 1 in 20 cleared $220k, ×356 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 1,552 games are announced against 403 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $239 (exactly $239) |
|---|---|
| Median | $839 (exactly $839) |
| Top 25% | $5.9k (exactly $5,920) |
| Top 5% | $223k (exactly $223,455) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 771 |
| Released games | 1,979 |
| Announced | 1,552 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $5.99 |
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 flat on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 13%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Action-Adventure
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Mystery
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Action-Adventure; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration, Action
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, 3D, Story Rich
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 89% positive over 39,815 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $240. 9 in 10 of the 434 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 1,552 games are announced against 403 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.9 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Action-Adventure with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Dating SimFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + BikesFair
- + TransportationFair
- + MotorbikeFair
- + TypingLong shot
- + Time AttackLong shot
- + Character Action GamePoor odds
- + MMORPGPoor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + LGBTQ+Poor odds
- + Villain ProtagonistPoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Atomic Heart | older | $59.99 | 41,690 81% | 1.3M | $75M (exactly $75,029,493) | Mundfish |
| | A Plague Tale: Requiem | older | $49.99 | 20,797 90% | 624k | $31M (exactly $31,189,261) | Asobo Studio |
| | Onimusha: Way of the Sword | $69.99 | 11,279 89% | 338k | $24M (exactly $23,682,516) | CAPCOM Co., Ltd. | |
| | Ghostwire: Tokyo | older | $59.99 | 12,954 83% | 389k | $23M (exactly $23,313,314) | Tango Gameworks |
| | Kena: Bridge of Spirits | older | $39.99 | 16,701 91% | 501k | $20M (exactly $20,036,190) | Ember Lab |
| | SIGNALIS | older | $19.99 | 30,601 96% | 918k | $18M (exactly $18,351,420) | rose-engine |
| | Chants of Sennaar | older | $19.99 | 30,416 98% | 912k | $18M (exactly $18,240,475) | Rundisc |
| | Judgment | older | $39.99 | 9,407 93% | 282k | $11M (exactly $11,285,578) | RGG Studio |
| | The Talos Principle 2 | older | $29.99 | 12,478 94% | 374k | $11M (exactly $11,226,457) | Croteam |
| | Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter | older | $29.99 | 12,076 80% | 362k | $11M (exactly $10,864,777) | Frogwares |
| | Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy | $49.99 | 3,558 92% | 107k | $5.3M (exactly $5,335,933) | Asobo Studio | |
| | MIO: Memories in Orbit | $19.99 | 4,300 83% | 129k | $2.6M (exactly $2,578,710) | Douze Dixièmes | |
| | Threefold Recital | $14.99 | 5,117 98% | 154k | $2.3M (exactly $2,301,115) | Everscape Games | |
| | Crisol: Theater of Idols | $17.99 | 4,103 85% | 123k | $2.2M (exactly $2,214,389) | Vermila Studios | |
| | The Sinking City 2 | $49.99 | 1,410 83% | 42k | $2.1M (exactly $2,114,577) | Frogwares | |
| | KLETKA | $9.99 | 6,374 90% | 191k | $1.9M (exactly $1,910,288) | Callback, ln404 | |
| | Echoes of the End: Enhanced Edition | $39.99 | 1,484 78% | 45k | $1.8M (exactly $1,780,355) | Myrkur Games | |
| | Slitterhead | $49.99 | 1,145 78% | 34k | $1.7M (exactly $1,717,156) | Bokeh Game Studio lnc. | |
| | RAIDOU Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army | $49.99 | 1,045 93% | 31k | $1.6M (exactly $1,567,186) | ATLUS |
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.