Games › Investigation › Investigation + Assassins
Should I ship an Assassin Investigation game?
Investigation + Assassins
Only 18 developers shipped an Assassin Investigation game in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Thief VR: Legacy of Shadow, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 36 more are announced, ×6.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $360, ×0.2 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $120. 36 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year, ×6.0 per shipper, while revenue is up 7070% on the market.
| Bottom 30% | $114 (exactly $114) |
|---|---|
| Median | $360 (exactly $360) |
| Top 25% | $5.8k (exactly $5,753) |
| Top 5% | $204k (exactly $203,898) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 18 |
| Released games | 49 |
| Announced | 36 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 7070% on the market, supply 50% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 10%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Investigation
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Assassins
- effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Investigation; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration, Interactive Fiction
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, Story Rich, Comedy
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 77% positive over 516 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $120. All of the 13 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 36 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year, ×6.0 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Investigation with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Escape RoomFair
- + IdlerFair
- + TriviaLong shot
- + LGBTQ+Poor odds
- + JRPGPoor odds
- + HistoricalPoor odds
- + RomancePoor odds
- + GothicPoor odds
- + LovecraftianPoor odds
- + Dating SimPoor odds
- + Card GamePoor odds
- + SciencePoor odds
Comparable games
Deceive Inc. 2023 · $2.9M 
NO, THANK YOU!!! 2018 · $216k 
Thief VR: Legacy of Shadow 2025 · $204k 
Eville 2022 · $195k 
GAME.exe 2021 · $50k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Deceive Inc. | older | $19.99 | 4,755 84% | 143k | $2.9M (exactly $2,851,574) | Sweet Bandits Studios |
| | NO, THANK YOU!!! | older | $39.99 | 180 87% | 5.4k | $216k (exactly $215,946) | parade |
| | Thief VR: Legacy of Shadow | $19.99 | 340 75% | 10k | $204k (exactly $203,898) | Maze Theory | |
| | Eville | older | $14.99 | 433 68% | 13k | $195k (exactly $194,720) | VestGames |
| | GAME.exe | older | $3.99 | 415 83% | 12k | $50k (exactly $49,676) | Punx Studios |
 | Lycans | older | $4.99 | 309 91% | 9.3k | $46k (exactly $46,257) | Onu Games |
 | 江华号 | older | $9.99 | 132 70% | 4.0k | $40k (exactly $39,560) | 知音动漫 |
 | Beyond R: Rule Ripper | $24.99 | 32 90% | 960 | $24k (exactly $23,990) | Tohriv, GJ Staff | |
 | French Crime Detective Game | older | $19.99 | 40 92% | 1.2k | $24k (exactly $23,988) | Rakame 7 |
 | The Divine Deception | older | $14.99 | 38 86% | 1.1k | $17k (exactly $17,089) | Themisian |
 | Detective Penguin | $6.99 | 54 87% | 1.6k | $11k (exactly $11,324) | That Other Fish, That Fish | |
 | Midnight Saturn | $9.99 | 28 82% | 840 | $8.4k (exactly $8,392) | Cosmic Void | |
 | CrimeBot 2: Detective Mystery Games | $7.99 | 24 50% | 720 | $5.8k (exactly $5,753) | RoboBot Studio | |
 | Don't Stop In Red Wood | $8.99 | 6 83% | 180 | $1.6k (exactly $1,618) | Diego Victor | |
 | Dean Archer Stories: The Missing Detective | $0.99 | 22 95% | 660 | $653 (exactly $653) | Sneaky Peek, Nacho Grela | |
 | Corcovado's Night Guard | $9.99 | 2 100% | 60 | $599 (exactly $599) | LuGuMiVi Games | |
 | HUNTED | $3.00 | 4 0% | 120 | $360 (exactly $360) | Marcos moreira | |
 | Classroom Whispers | $2.99 | 4 75% | 120 | $359 (exactly $359) | La Oreja de Vancho Studios |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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