Do I ship it?

GamesLootLoot + Artificial Intelligence

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an AI Loot game?

Loot + Artificial Intelligence

Of 28 developers who shipped an AI Loot 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.. 22 more are announced.

Verdict: strong odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $19k, ×31 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 7 in 10 cleared $2.3k. Revenue is up 655% on the market; 22 games are announced against 23 developers who shipped in the last year, ×1.0 per shipper.

Deciding numbers: median 30.7 times the market baseline, revenue up 655% on the market, 22 announced, ×1.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Loot + Artificial Intelligence
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 28
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $300 → $31k (still earning) → $79k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Loot + Artificial Intelligence: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 28
Bottom 30% $2.3k (exactly $2,336)
Median $19k (exactly $19,272)
Top 25% $111k (exactly $110,741)
Top 5% $243k (exactly $242,576)
Developers, 2 yr 28
Released games 52
Announced 22
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $7.99

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 655% on the market, supply 360% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 17%, 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.

Loot
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Artificial Intelligence
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Loot; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action RPG, RPG, Action
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $13.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $13.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 41% positive over 27,264 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $2.4k, median $19k, 1 in 4 over $110k, 1 in 20 over $240k.

3 in 10 developers made under $2.4k. 9 in 10 of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 22 games are announced against 23 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Loot with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Local Co-OpStrong odds22 devs · median $7.3k · 21 announced
  2. + SteampunkStrong odds7 devs · median $2.2k · 10 announced
  3. + CapitalismFair36 devs · median $14k · 52 announced
  4. + Turn-Based StrategyFair86 devs · median $6.3k · 97 announced
  5. + JRPGFair34 devs · median $5.5k · 41 announced
  6. + EconomyFair74 devs · median $4.6k · 114 announced
  7. + IdlerFair181 devs · median $4.5k · 256 announced
  8. + CatsFair17 devs · median $3.4k · 24 announced
  9. + IncrementalFair145 devs · median $2.9k · 236 announced
  10. + Creature CollectorFair51 devs · median $2.9k · 67 announced
  11. + CollectathonFair90 devs · median $1.9k · 95 announced
  12. + ArcadeFair147 devs · median $1.9k · 215 announced

All 159 pairs on the Loot page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
RUNNING WITH RIFLES older $14.99 14,676 87% 440k $6.6M (exactly $6,599,797) Osumia Games
BidKing $2.99 22,238 33% 667k $2.0M (exactly $1,994,749) MindSurge Network & Games
Ruins of Dawn $7.99 1,012 72% 30k $243k (exactly $242,576) 刷宝爱好者
Fickle Card Legend $7.99 992 67% 30k $238k (exactly $237,782) 偶尔不帅
Backpack Jianghu $13.99 565 80% 17k $237k (exactly $237,130) 背包工作室
在赛博世界和100个道侣修仙 $17.99 255 69% 7.7k $138k (exactly $137,624) 雙峰狂詩曲
Astroloot · EA $6.99 587 92% 18k $123k (exactly $123,094) Andreas Hager Gaming
Meowgic $7.99 462 79% 14k $111k (exactly $110,741) Lazy Turtle Games
Rocky Idle $9.99 308 83% 9.2k $92k (exactly $92,308) Rocky Games Studio
Backpack Dungeon $3.99 656 87% 20k $79k (exactly $78,523) 夜喵
Survivor Girls Sanctuary $9.99 189 64% 5.7k $57k (exactly $56,643) Survival Strategy !

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