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Should I ship an Arcade Immersive Sim?
Immersive Sim + Arcade
Of 196 developers who shipped an Arcade 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.. 230 more are announced, ×2.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $660, ×0.4 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180. 230 games are announced against 108 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 per shipper, while revenue is down 40% on the market.
| Bottom 30% | $180 (exactly $180) |
|---|---|
| Median | $657 (exactly $657) |
| Top 25% | $4.9k (exactly $4,940) |
| Top 5% | $162k (exactly $161,584) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 196 |
| Released games | 523 |
| Announced | 230 |
| Effort | 8 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $5.99 |
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 40% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Arcade
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 8 / 10 · online systems, open world
- Systems
- Immersive Sim, Arcade; 3 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Management, Driving
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person, Realistic
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 85% positive over 15,121 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $180. 8 in 10 of the 121 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 230 games are announced against 108 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Immersive Sim with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Trading Card GameStrong odds
- + MinigamesStrong odds
- + WesternStrong odds
- + BoxingStrong odds
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + Asynchronous MultiplayerFair
- + Dating SimFair
- + RomanceFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + Visual NovelFair
- + Split ScreenFair
Comparable games
| 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 |
| | The Precinct | $29.99 | 7,837 87% | 235k | $7.1M (exactly $7,050,949) | Fallen Tree Games Ltd | |
| | Call of the Wild: The Angler™ | older | $29.99 | 6,122 63% | 184k | $5.5M (exactly $5,507,963) | Expansive Worlds |
| | Super Mega Baseball 3 | older | $44.99 | 1,832 92% | 55k | $2.5M (exactly $2,472,650) | Metalhead Software Inc. |
| | KartKraft™ | older | $24.99 | 2,987 73% | 90k | $2.2M (exactly $2,239,354) | Motorsport Games |
| | Seafarer: The Ship Sim | · EA | $34.99 | 1,921 64% | 58k | $2.0M (exactly $2,016,474) | astragon Development |
| | RUNNING TRAIN | 走ル列車! | · EA | $19.99 | 1,594 97% | 48k | $956k (exactly $955,922) | Novatetsu Games |
| | Kayak VR: Mirage | older | $22.99 | 1,006 82% | 30k | $694k (exactly $693,838) | Better Than Life |
| | Legend Bowl | older | $24.99 | 910 87% | 27k | $682k (exactly $682,227) | Super Pixel Games |
| | Pure Rock Crawling | $14.99 | 1,291 83% | 39k | $581k (exactly $580,563) | Maciej Kuzianik | |
| | A Bumpy Ride | $14.99 | 569 97% | 17k | $256k (exactly $255,879) | Cosmoporium Games | |
| | LANESPLIT | $17.99 | 381 77% | 11k | $206k (exactly $205,626) | FunkyMouse | |
| | Tower Networking Inc. | · EA | $19.99 | 317 95% | 9.5k | $190k (exactly $190,105) | Pocosia Studios |
| | IT Specialist Simulator | · EA | $13.99 | 433 74% | 13k | $182k (exactly $181,730) | Pixel Team RED |
| | ReCharge RC: High Voltage | · EA | $13.99 | 393 95% | 12k | $165k (exactly $164,942) | Hondune Games |
| | Gaming Cafe Simulator | $13.99 | 385 83% | 12k | $162k (exactly $161,584) | Prapancha Studios |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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