Do I ship it?

Games › Stealth › Stealth + Arcade

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Arcade Stealth game?

Stealth + Arcade

Of 88 developers who shipped an Arcade Stealth 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.. 125 more are announced, ×3.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $300 in the last 2 years and $420 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 6 / 10 build. 38 developers shipped in the last year and 125 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.5 times the market baseline, revenue down 45% on the market, 125 announced, ×3.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Stealth + Arcade
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 88
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $210 → $1.2k → $898 → $300 → $599 → $299 → $269 (still earning) → $120 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Stealth + Arcade: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 88
Bottom 30% $120 (exactly $120)
Median $299 (exactly $299)
Top 25% $2.4k (exactly $2,397)
Top 5% $70k (exactly $70,153)
Developers, 2 yr 88
Released games 288
Announced 125
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $4.99

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 45% on the market, supply 25% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 14%, 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.

Stealth
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 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
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Stealth, Arcade; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Action-Adventure
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 87% positive over 5,433 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $120, median $300, 1 in 4 over $2.3k, 1 in 20 over $70k.

3 in 10 developers made under $120. 9 in 10 of the 61 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 125 games are announced against 38 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.3 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Stealth with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + JRPGFair7 devs · median $1.3k · 12 announced
  2. + World War IIPoor odds11 devs · median $43k · 14 announced
  3. + LGBTQ+Poor odds19 devs · median $30k · 30 announced
  4. + Turn-Based CombatPoor odds8 devs · median $27k · 31 announced
  5. + WargamePoor odds10 devs · median $21k · 39 announced
  6. + DinosaursPoor odds10 devs · median $17k · 23 announced
  7. + Gun CustomizationPoor odds20 devs · median $13k · 63 announced
  8. + Base BuildingPoor odds21 devs · median $13k · 57 announced
  9. + Cold WarPoor odds7 devs · median $10k · 31 announced
  10. + HistoricalPoor odds32 devs · median $9.6k · 76 announced
  11. + MilitaryPoor odds43 devs · median $8.5k · 122 announced
  12. + WarPoor odds30 devs · median $7.6k · 89 announced

All 159 pairs on the Stealth page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Nuclear Option 2023 · EA · $6.2M DRAGON BALL: THE BREAKERS 2022 · $4.5M LEFT ALIVE™ 2019 · $1.1M Darwin's Paradox! 2026 · $632k Serial Cleaner 2017 · $612k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Nuclear Option · EA older $19.99 10,275 95% 308k $6.2M (exactly $6,161,917) Shockfront Studios
DRAGON BALL: THE BREAKERS older $29.99 4,983 50% 149k $4.5M (exactly $4,483,205) Dimps Corporation
LEFT ALIVE™ older $59.99 622 31% 19k $1.1M (exactly $1,119,413) Square Enix
Darwin's Paradox! $24.99 843 87% 25k $632k (exactly $631,997) ZDT Studio
Serial Cleaner older $14.99 1,361 84% 41k $612k (exactly $612,042) Draw Distance
It Steals older $4.99 2,144 98% 64k $321k (exactly $320,957) Zeekerss
Supernatural older $8.99 1,180 63% 35k $318k (exactly $318,246) Hitori De Productions
Kong: Survivor Instinct $24.99 338 71% 10k $253k (exactly $253,399) 7Levels
Christmas Massacre older $7.99 1,015 91% 30k $243k (exactly $243,296) Puppet Combo
SchoolBoy Runaway $1.99 3,731 90% 112k $223k (exactly $222,741) Linked Squad
Crime Shop Simulator: A Prison Boss Game $19.99 157 85% 4.7k $94k (exactly $94,153) TREBUCHET
Monaco 2 $14.99 156 63% 4.7k $70k (exactly $70,153) Pocketwatch Games
Totally Spies! - Cyber Mission $39.99 47 63% 1.4k $56k (exactly $56,386) Balio Studio
Haneda Girl $14.99 74 94% 2.2k $33k (exactly $33,278) Studio Koba
Regulators $14.99 35 100% 1.1k $16k (exactly $15,740) Orangepixel
Escape from Ghosts $12.99 28 71% 840 $11k (exactly $10,912) Alex8778
Time Hacker $14.99 24 70% 720 $11k (exactly $10,793) Joy Way

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