Do I ship it?

GamesSimulationSimulation + Billiards

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Billiards Simulation game?

Simulation + Billiards

Of 23 developers who shipped a Billiards Simulation 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.. 13 more are announced.

Verdict: dead, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $180 in the last 2 years and $450 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 5 / 10 build. 15 developers shipped in the last year and 13 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.3 times the market baseline, revenue up 975% on the market, 13 announced, ×0.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Simulation + Billiards
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 23
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.1k → $6.6k → $838 → $1.2k → $0 → $450 → $299 (still earning) → $539 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Simulation + Billiards: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 23
Bottom 30% $0 (exactly $0)
Median $180 (exactly $180)
Top 25% $1.2k (exactly $1,198)
Top 5% $154k (exactly $154,438)
Developers, 2 yr 23
Released games 66
Announced 13
Effort 5 / 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 up 975% on the market, supply 90% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 18%, 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.

Simulation
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Billiards
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
Simulation, Billiards; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Sports, PvP, Physics
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $8.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person, 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $8.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 86% positive over 2,607 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $50, median $180, 1 in 4 over $1.1k, 1 in 20 over $150k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. All of the 8 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 13 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + FMVStrong odds150 devs · median $55k · 81 announced
  2. + Escape RoomStrong odds36 devs · median $3.6k · 26 announced
  3. + World War IFair23 devs · median $32k · 32 announced
  4. + Job SimulatorFair285 devs · median $12k · 362 announced
  5. + LGBTQ+Fair272 devs · median $9.7k · 303 announced
  6. + PinballFair27 devs · median $8.2k · 28 announced
  7. + Female ProtagonistFair672 devs · median $5.1k · 754 announced
  8. + BirdsFair19 devs · median $3.8k · 16 announced
  9. + Artificial IntelligenceFair387 devs · median $3.0k · 490 announced
  10. + MusicFair81 devs · median $3.0k · 92 announced
  11. + Auto BattlerFair219 devs · median $2.5k · 293 announced
  12. + ProgrammingFair132 devs · median $2.2k · 174 announced

All 287 pairs on the Simulation page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Who's Your Daddy?! older $9.99 25,797 80% 774k $7.7M (exactly $7,731,361) Evil Tortilla Games
Snooker 19 older $29.99 751 73% 23k $676k (exactly $675,675) Lab42
Virtual Pool 4 older $24.99 770 82% 23k $577k (exactly $577,269) Celeris
Cue Club 2: Pool & Snooker older $18.99 858 90% 26k $489k (exactly $488,803) Bulldog Interactive
Sports Bar VR older $19.99 784 83% 24k $470k (exactly $470,165) Cherry Pop Games, Perilous Orbit
Pool Nation older $6.99 2,208 89% 66k $463k (exactly $463,018) Cherry Pop Games
All-In-One Sports VR older $19.99 700 84% 21k $420k (exactly $419,790) Appnori Inc.
Nine-Ball Roulette $3.99 2,159 88% 65k $258k (exactly $258,432) WaveBox Labs
Pure Pool older $9.99 672 58% 20k $201k (exactly $201,398) VooFoo Studios
Pure Pool Pro $24.99 206 66% 6.2k $154k (exactly $154,438) Rockwater
My Car My Life · EA $1.99 171 98% 5.1k $10k (exactly $10,209) Noguiin
Dorts : A Darts Roguelike $8.99 23 100% 690 $6.2k (exactly $6,203) MovingPixels
Angel Club $6.99 20 65% 600 $4.2k (exactly $4,194) イルカのヒレ
SplitPool $4.99 8 100% 240 $1.2k (exactly $1,198) Bindus Games
Pool · EA $5.99 6 33% 180 $1.1k (exactly $1,078) Hard Shark Games
CarCam $3.99 8 25% 240 $958 (exactly $958) Movcans Vadims
Billiards Pro Simulator · EA $5.99 3 33% 90 $539 (exactly $539) Hard Shark Games
8 Ball Pool: Play Together $5.99 3 33% 90 $539 (exactly $539) Red Suns Tech

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