Games › Adventure › Adventure + Aliens
Should I ship an Alien Adventure game?
Adventure + Aliens
Of 375 developers who shipped an Alien Adventure 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.. 630 more are announced, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $720, ×1.5 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $210; 1 in 20 cleared $260k, ×561 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 630 games are announced against 201 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $210 (exactly $210) |
|---|---|
| Median | $719 (exactly $719) |
| Top 25% | $6.7k (exactly $6,736) |
| Top 5% | $267k (exactly $266,612) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 375 |
| Released games | 1,210 |
| Announced | 630 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| 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 flat on the market, supply 10% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 11%, 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
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Adventure; 3 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Exploration, Action-Adventure
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, 2D, Story Rich
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 85% positive over 88,654 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $210. 9 in 10 of the 212 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 630 games are announced against 201 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Adventure with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + SamuraiFair
- + FMVFair
- + PinballFair
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + Escape RoomFair
- + Mini GolfFair
- + SportsFair
- + GolfFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + Time AttackFair
- + Traditional RoguelikeFair
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
Comparable games
Subnautica 2018 · $307M 
Halo: The Master Chief Collection 2019 · $287M 
Half-Life: Alyx 2020 · $167M 
Lethal Company 2023 · EA · $123M 
Dead Space 2023 · $113M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Subnautica | older | $29.99 | 341,390 97% | 10M | $307M (exactly $307,148,583) | Unknown Worlds Entertainment |
| | Halo: The Master Chief Collection | older | $39.99 | 239,603 92% | 7.2M | $287M (exactly $287,451,719) | 343 Industries, Splash Damage, Ruffian… (343 Industries, Splash Damage, Ruffian Games, Bungie, Saber Interactive) |
| | Half-Life: Alyx | older | $59.99 | 93,001 98% | 2.8M | $167M (exactly $167,373,900) | Valve |
| | Lethal Company | · EA older | $9.99 | 411,550 97% | 12M | $123M (exactly $123,341,535) | Zeekerss |
| | Dead Space | older | $59.99 | 62,997 90% | 1.9M | $113M (exactly $113,375,701) | Motive |
 | STAR WARS™ Battlefront™ II | older | $39.99 | 87,494 88% | 2.6M | $105M (exactly $104,966,552) | DICE |
 | Subnautica: Below Zero | older | $29.99 | 99,384 90% | 3.0M | $89M (exactly $89,415,785) | Unknown Worlds Entertainment |
 | Black Mesa | older | $19.99 | 134,753 94% | 4.0M | $81M (exactly $80,811,374) | Crowbar Collective |
 | Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy | older | $59.99 | 35,397 93% | 1.1M | $64M (exactly $63,703,981) | Eidos-Montréal |
 | Half-Life 2 | older | $9.99 | 202,782 97% | 6.1M | $61M (exactly $60,773,765) | Valve |
 | Abiotic Factor | $34.99 | 42,075 95% | 1.3M | $44M (exactly $44,166,128) | Deep Field Games | |
 | Halo: Campaign Evolved | $49.99 | 12,512 61% | 375k | $19M (exactly $18,764,246) | Halo Studios | |
 | ROUTINE | $24.99 | 7,322 91% | 220k | $5.5M (exactly $5,489,303) | Lunar Software | |
 | Nuclear Nightmare | · EA | $6.99 | 15,403 81% | 462k | $3.2M (exactly $3,230,009) | BG Productions |
 | High On Life 2 | $39.99 | 2,200 71% | 66k | $2.6M (exactly $2,639,340) | Squanch Games, Inc. | |
 | A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead | $29.99 | 2,331 74% | 70k | $2.1M (exactly $2,097,201) | Stormind Games | |
 | Directive 8020 | $49.99 | 1,337 63% | 40k | $2.0M (exactly $2,005,099) | Supermassive Games | |
 | Greedland | $12.99 | 2,919 83% | 88k | $1.1M (exactly $1,137,534) | VaMP He | |
 | The Thing: Remastered | $29.99 | 1,203 89% | 36k | $1.1M (exactly $1,082,339) | Nightdive Studios, Computer Artworks | |
 | Starship Troopers: Ultimate Bug War! | $24.99 | 1,352 92% | 41k | $1.0M (exactly $1,013,594) | Auroch Digital |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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