Games › Arcade › Arcade + Hacking
Should I ship a Hacking Arcade game?
Arcade + Hacking
Of 40 developers who shipped a Hacking Arcade 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.. 54 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.6k, ×3.3 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $450. Revenue is up 195% on the market; 54 games are announced against 31 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $449 (exactly $449) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.6k (exactly $1,574) |
| Top 25% | $3.6k (exactly $3,593) |
| Top 5% | $100k (exactly $100,093) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 40 |
| Released games | 89 |
| Announced | 54 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| Typical price | $3.99 |
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 195% on the market, supply 245% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 13%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Arcade; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Strategy, Idler
- Price point
- $3.99 typical · top 25% priced $7.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Minimalist, Abstract
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $7.99 or above; the middle game at $3.99.
The top 10 games average 84% positive over 2,559 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $450. 9 in 10 of the 11 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 54 games are announced against 31 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Arcade with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Roguelike DeckbuilderFair
- + TrainsFair
- + Visual NovelFair
- + MiningFair
- + FaithFair
- + Turn-BasedFair
- + EconomyFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + DeckbuildingFair
- + Card BattlerFair
- + LootFair
- + VampiresFair
Comparable games
Internet Cafe Simulator 2 2022 · $7.4M 
Nodebuster 2024 · $1.2M 
hack_me 2017 · $261k 
Crypto Mining Simulator 2021 · $212k 
RIVE 2016 · $210k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Internet Cafe Simulator 2 | older | $19.99 | 12,299 74% | 369k | $7.4M (exactly $7,375,710) | Cheesecake Dev |
| | Nodebuster | older | $2.99 | 13,852 97% | 416k | $1.2M (exactly $1,242,524) | Goblobin |
| | hack_me | older | $5.99 | 1,454 68% | 44k | $261k (exactly $261,284) | Egor Magurin, Eugene Radaev |
| | Crypto Mining Simulator | older | $4.99 | 1,419 65% | 43k | $212k (exactly $212,424) | Satosha Nakamoti |
| | RIVE | older | $14.99 | 468 83% | 14k | $210k (exactly $210,460) | Two Tribes |
 | IT Specialist Simulator | · EA | $13.99 | 433 74% | 13k | $182k (exactly $181,730) | Pixel Team RED |
 | Computer Repair Shop | older | $9.99 | 562 66% | 17k | $168k (exactly $168,431) | Cheesecake Dev |
 | JUSTICE SUCKS: Tactical Vacuum Action | older | $19.99 | 199 95% | 6.0k | $119k (exactly $119,340) | Samurai Punk |
 | FEED THE AI | $5.99 | 557 90% | 17k | $100k (exactly $100,093) | Weird Kid Games | |
 | Minutescape | $5.99 | 546 74% | 16k | $98k (exactly $98,116) | Molter | |
 | DEFRAG | $2.99 | 534 93% | 16k | $48k (exactly $47,900) | BlueDot Studio | |
 | Antivirus Girl | $7.99 | 169 88% | 5.1k | $41k (exactly $40,509) | Chowbie | |
 | Codename: Terranova | $23.99 | 23 69% | 690 | $17k (exactly $16,553) | ACGames | |
 | Xenosensory | $2.99 | 161 93% | 4.8k | $14k (exactly $14,442) | caiys | |
 | Kinetype | · EA | $6.99 | 36 83% | 1.1k | $7.5k (exactly $7,549) | Morlytic |
 | Bytecollector | $1.99 | 76 80% | 2.3k | $4.5k (exactly $4,537) | TheTallLeaf | |
 | PINEAPPLE: A Bittersweet Revenge | $4.99 | 24 83% | 720 | $3.6k (exactly $3,593) | PATRONES & ESCONDITES |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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