Do I ship it?

Games › Immersive Sim › Immersive Sim + Action Roguelike

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Action Roguelike Immersive Sim?

Immersive Sim + Action Roguelike

Of 30 developers who shipped an Action Roguelike Immersive Sim 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.. 63 more are announced, ×3.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.8k, ×1.2 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $59; 1 in 20 cleared $1.4M, ×989 the market median. Revenue is down 90% on the market; 63 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.2 times the market baseline, revenue down 90% on the market, 63 announced, ×3.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Immersive Sim + Action Roguelike
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 30
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $12k → $1.8k → $5.2k → $74k → $89 (still earning) → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Immersive Sim + Action Roguelike: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 30
Bottom 30% $59 (exactly $59)
Median $1.8k (exactly $1,794)
Top 25% $74k (exactly $73,588)
Top 5% $1.5M (exactly $1,482,165)
Developers, 2 yr 30
Released games 64
Announced 63
Effort 8 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $7.99

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 90% on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 9%, 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.

Immersive Sim
effort 8 / 10 · low · effort 8 sits in the low band
Action Roguelike
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
8 / 10 · online systems, open world
Systems
Immersive Sim, Action Roguelike; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration, Survival Horror
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, First-Person, Story Rich
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 86% positive over 25,704 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $59, median $1.8k, 1 in 4 over $73k, 1 in 20 over $1.4M.

3 in 10 developers made under $59. 7 in 10 of the 15 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 63 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.5 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Immersive Sim with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + FMVStrong odds112 devs · median $63k · 58 announced
  2. + Trading Card GameStrong odds18 devs · median $30k · 13 announced
  3. + MinigamesStrong odds15 devs · median $24k · 11 announced
  4. + WesternStrong odds17 devs · median $4.4k · 14 announced
  5. + BoxingStrong odds16 devs · median $2.7k · 12 announced
  6. + Job SimulatorFair152 devs · median $20k · 180 announced
  7. + Asynchronous MultiplayerFair8 devs · median $17k · 10 announced
  8. + Dating SimFair295 devs · median $13k · 296 announced
  9. + RomanceFair254 devs · median $12k · 266 announced
  10. + LGBTQ+Fair87 devs · median $11k · 93 announced
  11. + Visual NovelFair399 devs · median $7.8k · 453 announced
  12. + Split ScreenFair12 devs · median $6.0k · 14 announced

All 219 pairs on the Immersive Sim page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Streets of Rogue 2019 · $10M MISERY 2025 · $7.8M Barony 2015 · $7.6M Void Bastards 2019 · $3.5M Feed the Cups 2024 · EA · $2.3M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Streets of Rogue older $19.99 17,215 96% 516k $10M (exactly $10,323,836) Matt Dabrowski
MISERY $12.99 20,015 85% 600k $7.8M (exactly $7,799,846) Platypus Entertainment
Barony older $19.99 12,714 90% 381k $7.6M (exactly $7,624,586) Turning Wheel LLC
Void Bastards older $29.99 3,888 86% 117k $3.5M (exactly $3,498,034) Blue Manchu
Feed the Cups · EA older $15.99 4,708 72% 141k $2.3M (exactly $2,258,428) Vambear Games
Five Hearts Under One Roof season2 $22.99 2,149 96% 64k $1.5M (exactly $1,482,165) Storytaco
Eldritch older $14.99 1,698 88% 51k $764k (exactly $763,591) Minor Key Games
ORDER 13 $8.99 1,224 87% 37k $330k (exactly $330,113) Cybernetic Walrus
It Has My Face $9.99 608 88% 18k $182k (exactly $182,218) NightByte Games
CAPTURED 2 $7.99 564 99% 17k $135k (exactly $135,191) Puck Redflix
Sex Desert: Mad Lust $9.99 323 61% 9.7k $97k (exactly $96,803) Carnality INC
Super Drift Blade $6.99 351 94% 11k $74k (exactly $73,605) Liujiajun
VR Sailing $7.99 307 96% 9.2k $74k (exactly $73,588) HFRK.
Horny Housewives 2 $14.99 146 63% 4.4k $66k (exactly $65,656) Entropy Digital Entertainment
Derby Heroines: Run, Bet, Win! $14.99 17 94% 510 $7.6k (exactly $7,645) SHINISE GAMES, MFC STUDIO

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