Should I ship an Arcade FMV?
FMV + Arcade
Only 15 developers shipped an Arcade FMV in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, BAZOOKA: Rhythm Game, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 14 more are announced.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $900, ×1.9 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $150k, ×335 the market median. Revenue is down 60% on the market; 14 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $298 (exactly $298) |
|---|---|
| Median | $899 (exactly $899) |
| Top 25% | $24k (exactly $23,994) |
| Top 5% | $159k (exactly $159,161) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 15 |
| Released games | 55 |
| Announced | 14 |
| Effort | 4 / 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 down 60% on the market, supply 15% fewer 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
- FMV, Arcade; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Shooter
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $39.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Funny, 1980s
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $39.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 94% positive over 917 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. All of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 14 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
FMV with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + SurvivalStrong odds
- + Post-apocalypticStrong odds
- + StrategyStrong odds
- + Multiple EndingsStrong odds
- + Immersive SimStrong odds
- + Choices MatterStrong odds
- + Dating SimStrong odds
- + RomanceStrong odds
- + SimulationStrong odds
- + JRPGStrong odds
- + Visual NovelStrong odds
- + RPGStrong odds
Comparable games
Need for Speed™ 2020 · $23M 
少女妖精弹珠台 Elf Girl Pinball 2022 · $241k 
Streets of Fury EX 2015 · $212k 
Dragon's Lair 2013 · $202k 
BAZOOKA: Rhythm Game 2026 · $159k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Need for Speed™ | older | $29.99 | 25,443 69% | 763k | $23M (exactly $22,891,067) | Ghost Games |
| | 少女妖精弹珠台 Elf Girl Pinball | older | $9.99 | 804 92% | 24k | $241k (exactly $240,959) | OWENO |
| | Streets of Fury EX | older | $9.99 | 708 96% | 21k | $212k (exactly $212,188) | Guard Crush |
| | Dragon's Lair | older | $9.99 | 673 77% | 20k | $202k (exactly $201,698) | Digital Leisure Inc. |
| | BAZOOKA: Rhythm Game | $7.99 | 664 98% | 20k | $159k (exactly $159,161) | Gregory Seguru, Codrin Bradea | |
 | Squad 51 vs. the Flying Saucers | older | $19.99 | 199 91% | 6.0k | $119k (exactly $119,340) | Loomiarts, Fehorama Filmes |
 | LocoCycle | older | $9.99 | 312 83% | 9.4k | $94k (exactly $93,506) | Twisted Pixel Games |
 | Angry Video Game Nerd 8-bit | $19.99 | 122 81% | 3.7k | $73k (exactly $73,163) | Retroware, Programancer, Mega Cat Studi… (Retroware, Programancer, Mega Cat Studios) | |
 | Salamander County Public Television | older | $9.99 | 233 96% | 7.0k | $70k (exactly $69,830) | Tinzone Games |
 | Space Ace | older | $9.99 | 159 79% | 4.8k | $48k (exactly $47,652) | Digital Leisure Inc. |
 | TIMEGAL HD-Remaster | $24.99 | 45 84% | 1.4k | $34k (exactly $33,736) | TAITO CORP. | |
 | Big Buck Hunter: Ultimate Trophy | $39.99 | 20 60% | 600 | $24k (exactly $23,994) | Cradle Games, Play Mechanix, Inc | |
 | SPELLHACK!! | $5.99 | 46 91% | 1.4k | $8.3k (exactly $8,266) | Computer Dream | |
 | One Rotten Oath | $6.99 | 10 100% | 300 | $2.1k (exactly $2,097) | Piotr Bunkowski | |
 | 2Synth | $10.99 | 5 100% | 150 | $1.6k (exactly $1,648) | Joel Gervasi | |
 | Arthur's Pet Chase | $9.99 | 3 100% | 90 | $899 (exactly $899) | Jordan Freeman Group, Marc Brown Studio… (Jordan Freeman Group, Marc Brown Studios, Wanderful Edutainment) | |
 | Type To Kill: Full-Motion Vengeance | $12.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $390 (exactly $390) | cptnoremac | |
 | Kingdom II: Shadoan | $9.99 | 1 0% | 30 | $300 (exactly $300) | Virtual Image Productions |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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