Games › Adventure › Adventure + Steampunk
Should I ship a Steampunk Adventure game?
Adventure + Steampunk
Of 85 developers who shipped a Steampunk 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.. 215 more are announced, ×5.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $3.0k, ×4.8 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $540; 1 in 20 cleared $210k, ×339 the market median. Revenue is up 20% on the market; 215 games are announced against 41 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $538 (exactly $538) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.0k (exactly $2,994) |
| Top 25% | $15k (exactly $14,748) |
| Top 5% | $213k (exactly $212,893) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 85 |
| Released games | 370 |
| Announced | 215 |
| 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 20% on the market, supply 10% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 9%, 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
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Adventure; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Story Rich
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 79% positive over 5,252 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $540. 9 in 10 of the 49 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 215 games are announced against 41 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.2 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
Lies of P 2023 · $105M 
BioShock Infinite 2013 · $99M 
Dishonored 2 2016 · $39M 
BioShock™ Remastered 2016 · $31M 
Assassin's Creed® Syndicate 2015 · $28M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Lies of P | older | $59.99 | 58,411 91% | 1.8M | $105M (exactly $105,122,277) | NEOWIZ |
| | BioShock Infinite | older | $29.99 | 109,718 93% | 3.3M | $99M (exactly $98,713,285) | Irrational Games, Virtual Programming (… (Irrational Games, Virtual Programming (Linux)) |
| | Dishonored 2 | older | $29.99 | 42,988 90% | 1.3M | $39M (exactly $38,676,304) | Arkane Studios |
| | BioShock™ Remastered | older | $19.99 | 52,500 83% | 1.6M | $31M (exactly $31,484,250) | 2K Boston, 2K Australia, Blind Squirrel… (2K Boston, 2K Australia, Blind Squirrel, Feral Interactive (Mac)) |
| | Assassin's Creed® Syndicate | older | $29.99 | 31,087 80% | 933k | $28M (exactly $27,968,974) | Ubisoft Quebec, in collaboration with U… (Ubisoft Quebec, in collaboration with Ubisoft Annecy, Bucharest, Kiev, Montreal, Montpellier, Shanghai, Singapore, Sofia, Toronto studios) |
 | Dishonored | older | $9.99 | 67,504 97% | 2.0M | $20M (exactly $20,230,949) | Arkane Studios |
 | Torchlight II | older | $19.99 | 33,094 92% | 993k | $20M (exactly $19,846,472) | Runic Games |
 | BioShock™ | older | $19.99 | 25,188 93% | 756k | $15M (exactly $15,105,244) | 2K Boston, 2K Australia |
 | BioShock™ 2 Remastered | older | $19.99 | 24,316 72% | 729k | $15M (exactly $14,582,305) | 2K Marin, 2K China, Digital Extremes, 2… (2K Marin, 2K China, Digital Extremes, 2K Australia, Blind Squirrel, Feral Interactive (Mac)) |
 | Torchlight III | older | $39.99 | 10,401 47% | 312k | $12M (exactly $12,478,080) | Echtra Inc. |
 | Syberia - Remastered | $29.99 | 724 70% | 22k | $651k (exactly $651,383) | Virtuallyz Gaming, Microids Studio Paris | |
 | FrostBound | $14.99 | 1,196 82% | 36k | $538k (exactly $537,841) | Lyra Studio | |
 | New Arc Line | · EA | $24.99 | 687 68% | 21k | $515k (exactly $515,044) | Dreamate |
 | Dead Weight | $12.99 | 575 82% | 17k | $224k (exactly $224,078) | Klukva Games | |
 | Chocolate Factory Simulator | $19.99 | 355 72% | 11k | $213k (exactly $212,893) | Games Incubator | |
 | Neyyah | $24.99 | 229 83% | 6.9k | $172k (exactly $171,681) | Defy Reality Entertainment | |
 | Super Mining Mechs | $4.99 | 841 86% | 25k | $126k (exactly $125,898) | Delayed Victory | |
 | Hunter's Moon: A Sovereign Syndicate Adventure | $19.99 | 205 83% | 6.2k | $123k (exactly $122,938) | Crimson Herring Studios | |
 | Erannorth Renaissance | $19.99 | 186 81% | 5.6k | $112k (exactly $111,544) | Spyridon Thalassinos | |
 | Éalú | $9.99 | 254 92% | 7.6k | $76k (exactly $76,124) | Beyond the Bark, Orr Games |
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.