Do I ship it?

Games › Quick-Time Events › Quick-Time Events + Arcade

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Quick-Time Events Arcade game?

Quick-Time Events + Arcade

Of 116 developers who shipped a Quick-Time Events 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.. 118 more are announced.

Verdict: dead, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $270 in the last 2 years and $300 over 4, against a market of $480 for a 4 / 10 build. 77 developers shipped in the last year and 118 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.6 times the market baseline, revenue up 125% on the market, 118 announced, ×1.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Quick-Time Events + Arcade
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 116
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $446 → $119 → $359 → $598 → $150 → $299 → $358 (still earning) → $135 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Quick-Time Events + Arcade: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 116
Bottom 30% $59 (exactly $59)
Median $267 (exactly $267)
Top 25% $1.3k (exactly $1,336)
Top 5% $17k (exactly $16,566)
Developers, 2 yr 116
Released games 314
Announced 118
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
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 125% on the market, supply 95% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 21%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Quick-Time Events
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
Arcade
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Quick-Time Events, Arcade; 3 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Score Attack
Price point
$3.99 typical · top 25% priced $6.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Colorful, Funny
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $6.99 or above; the middle game at $3.99.

The top 10 games average 92% positive over 2,049 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $59, median $270, 1 in 4 over $1.3k, 1 in 20 over $16k.

3 in 10 developers made under $59. 9 in 10 of the 56 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 118 games are announced against 77 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Quick-Time Events with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Dating SimFair17 devs · median $15k · 16 announced
  2. + Shoot 'Em UpFair8 devs · median $1.2k · 12 announced
  3. + Life SimFair28 devs · median $958 · 33 announced
  4. + SimulationFair116 devs · median $748 · 133 announced
  5. + CollectathonFair15 devs · median $720 · 18 announced
  6. + Resource ManagementFair46 devs · median $719 · 55 announced
  7. + FlightFair9 devs · median $657 · 9 announced
  8. + AliensFair12 devs · median $628 · 14 announced
  9. + SpaceFair16 devs · median $597 · 24 announced
  10. + Bullet TimeLong shot10 devs · median $390 · 15 announced
  11. + DemonsLong shot17 devs · median $300 · 22 announced
  12. + Bullet HellLong shot27 devs · median $239 · 25 announced

All 110 pairs on the Quick-Time Events page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

PAC-MAN WORLD 2 Re-PAC 2025 · $624k Blue Estate The Game 2015 · $590k Commando Collection 2024 · $212k Dragon's Lair 2013 · $202k BAZOOKA: Rhythm Game 2026 · $159k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
PAC-MAN WORLD 2 Re-PAC $29.99 694 90% 21k $624k (exactly $624,392) NOW PRODUCTION Co., Ltd.
Blue Estate The Game older $12.99 1,515 92% 45k $590k (exactly $590,396) HE SAW
Commando Collection older $4.99 1,414 95% 42k $212k (exactly $211,676) Macrojoy
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
LocoCycle older $9.99 312 83% 9.4k $94k (exactly $93,506) Twisted Pixel Games
Rally Arcade Classics $19.99 125 79% 3.8k $75k (exactly $74,962) NETK2GAMES
Rocket Assault: Downhill Rush older $7.99 209 92% 6.3k $50k (exactly $50,097) Giovanni Elgert
Whitewater VR: Extreme Kayaking Adventure older $19.99 82 81% 2.5k $49k (exactly $49,175) Adam Horvath
Space Ace older $9.99 159 79% 4.8k $48k (exactly $47,652) Digital Leisure Inc.
Dreams of Aether $2.99 228 96% 6.8k $20k (exactly $20,452) Lepioid LLC
Lost and found - What if I come and find it $15.99 36 88% 1.1k $17k (exactly $17,269) Gadir Team
Monster Meals $6.99 79 98% 2.4k $17k (exactly $16,566) Giant Warrior Studio
Nomyou $11.99 39 56% 1.2k $14k (exactly $14,028) Kudalyn's Creations
Car Down · EA $5.99 49 79% 1.5k $8.8k (exactly $8,805) Leo Rato Gamer
Many Mini Typing Games $5.99 46 97% 1.4k $8.3k (exactly $8,266) GirambQuamb
Cozy Twinkie $2.99 89 82% 2.7k $8.0k (exactly $7,983) Noodle A.M

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.