Games › Interactive Fiction › Interactive Fiction + Artificial Intelligence
Should I ship an AI Interactive Fiction?
Interactive Fiction + Artificial Intelligence
Of 114 developers who shipped an AI Interactive Fiction 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.. 182 more are announced, ×2.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $720, ×1.5 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $120; 1 in 20 cleared $450k, ×951 the market median. Revenue is up 125% on the market; 182 games are announced against 76 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $119 (exactly $119) |
|---|---|
| Median | $719 (exactly $719) |
| Top 25% | $11k (exactly $11,394) |
| Top 5% | $452k (exactly $451,948) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 114 |
| Released games | 239 |
| Announced | 182 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| Typical price | $8.99 |
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: 18%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Interactive Fiction
- effort 1 / 10 · high · prose plus a state machine
- Artificial Intelligence
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Interactive Fiction; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Visual Novel, Adventure, Choices Matter
- Price point
- $8.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.
The top 10 games average 84% positive over 17,554 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $120. 8 in 10 of the 52 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 182 games are announced against 76 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Interactive Fiction with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVFair
- + Match 3Fair
- + VampiresFair
- + SportsFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + PiratesFair
- + DrivingFair
- + DiplomacyFair
- + Perma DeathFair
- + Board GameFair
- + SnowFair
- + BuildingFair
Comparable games
AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES - nirvanA Initiative 2022 · $4.3M 
Road to Empress Ⅱ 2026 · $4.2M 
No Sleep For Kaname Date - From AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES 2025 · $1.0M 
S4U: CITYPUNK 2011 AND LOVE PUNCH 2025 · $975k 
Whispers from the Star 2025 · $498k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES - nirvanA Initiative | older | $39.99 | 3,571 86% | 107k | $4.3M (exactly $4,284,129) | Spike Chunsoft Co., Ltd. |
| | Road to Empress Ⅱ | $18.00 | 7,773 80% | 233k | $4.2M (exactly $4,197,420) | New One Studio | |
| | No Sleep For Kaname Date - From AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES | $39.99 | 835 79% | 25k | $1.0M (exactly $1,001,750) | Spike Chunsoft Co., Ltd. | |
| | S4U: CITYPUNK 2011 AND LOVE PUNCH | $13.99 | 2,324 90% | 70k | $975k (exactly $975,383) | U0U Games | |
| | Whispers from the Star | $9.99 | 1,662 80% | 50k | $498k (exactly $498,101) | Anuttacon | |
 | HackHub - Ultimate Hacker Simulator | $16.99 | 937 88% | 28k | $478k (exactly $477,589) | HotBunny | |
 | 恋爱吗？我家猫会后空翻 | $9.99 | 1,508 96% | 45k | $452k (exactly $451,948) | 光循花火工作室 | |
 | ALTDEUS: Beyond Chronos | older | $29.99 | 379 95% | 11k | $341k (exactly $340,986) | MyDearest Inc. |
 | Undercover | $14.99 | 667 77% | 20k | $300k (exactly $299,950) | intiny | |
 | AI Roguelite | older | $14.99 | 597 83% | 18k | $268k (exactly $268,471) | Max Loh |
 | Detective Sherlock: Shadow Stalker | · EA | $19.99 | 428 88% | 13k | $257k (exactly $256,672) | Gamercury |
 | Heatwave: Sam's Stay | $11.99 | 650 94% | 20k | $234k (exactly $233,805) | CodyFord | |
 | SPITE: Taking the Boss's Wife, Sister and Mother | $7.99 | 770 82% | 23k | $185k (exactly $184,569) | DIAMOND VISUAL |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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