Games › Sandbox › Sandbox + Assassins
Should I ship an Assassin Sandbox?
Sandbox + Assassins
Only 5 developers shipped an Assassin Sandbox 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, Suit for Hire, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 20 more are announced, ×20 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: dead, for a 7 / 10 build.
Only 1 developer shipped this in the last year, under the 5 a verdict needs; over 2 years the middle one made $1.8k against a market of $1.5k. 20 games are announced.
not enough cohorts to draw
| Bottom 30% | $180 (exactly $180) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.8k (exactly $1,798) |
| Top 25% | $18k (exactly $17,538) |
| Top 5% | $1.5M (exactly $1,467,371) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 5 |
| Released games | 29 |
| Announced | 20 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 too few recent games to read momentum, supply 75% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 17%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Sandbox
- Price point
- $9.99 typical
Why players buy here
Fewer than 10 games in the last 2 years; sentiment and price figures use the all window.
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 252,680 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $180. 8 in 10 of the 5 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 20 games are announced against 1 developer who shipped in the last year, ×20 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Sandbox with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FightingStrong odds
- + Turn-BasedFair
- + World War IIFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + ProgrammingFair
- + CatsFair
- + SportsFair
- + GamblingFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + Combat RacingFair
- + Trading Card GameFair
- + IdlerFair
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | HITMAN World of Assassination | older | $29.99 | 58,655 87% | 1.8M | $53M (exactly $52,771,904) | IO Interactive A/S |
| | Middle-earth™: Shadow of Mordor™ | older | $19.99 | 63,815 92% | 1.9M | $38M (exactly $38,269,856) | Monolith Productions |
| | Assassin's Creed 2 | older | $19.99 | 57,661 89% | 1.7M | $35M (exactly $34,579,302) | Ubisoft Montreal |
| | Assassin’s Creed® Brotherhood | older | $19.99 | 24,958 88% | 749k | $15M (exactly $14,967,313) | Ubisoft Montreal |
| | Assassin's Creed® Revelations | older | $19.99 | 19,244 83% | 577k | $12M (exactly $11,540,627) | Ubisoft Montreal |
| | Hitman: Blood Money | older | $9.99 | 13,642 93% | 409k | $4.1M (exactly $4,088,507) | Io-Interactive A/S |
| | Suit for Hire | $14.99 | 3,263 92% | 98k | $1.5M (exactly $1,467,371) | Godmode Interactive | |
| | Endorphin Vice | · EA older | $9.99 | 3,436 56% | 103k | $1.0M (exactly $1,029,769) | Endorphin Studios |
| | Hitman: Codename 47 | older | $7.99 | 4,258 70% | 128k | $1.0M (exactly $1,020,643) | IO Interactive A/S |
| | Hitman 2: Silent Assassin | older | $8.99 | 3,748 81% | 112k | $1.0M (exactly $1,010,836) | Io-Interactive A/S |
| | Red Tears: Angola | · EA | $14.99 | 39 84% | 1.2k | $18k (exactly $17,538) | Arun Haines |
| | Sipssassin | $9.99 | 6 100% | 180 | $1.8k (exactly $1,798) | Simmering Studios | |
| | Niut | $3.00 | 2 50% | 60 | $180 (exactly $180) | AF Works ® | |
| | Pew Pew Gaem 3 | $0.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $30 (exactly $30) | Saem |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.