Games › Investigation › Investigation + Capitalism
Should I ship a Capitalist Investigation game?
Investigation + Capitalism
Only 13 developers shipped a Capitalist 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, how to kill a fly [ H2KAF ], made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 37 more are announced, ×4.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $4.5k, ×9.5 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $21k, ×45 the market median. Revenue is up 70% on the market; 37 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $599 (exactly $599) |
|---|---|
| Median | $4.5k (exactly $4,497) |
| Top 25% | $14k (exactly $14,388) |
| Top 5% | $21k (exactly $21,279) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 13 |
| Released games | 36 |
| Announced | 37 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $5.99 |
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 70% on the market, supply 60% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 19%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Investigation
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Capitalism
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Investigation; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Immersive Sim, Economy
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $11.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Cute, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $11.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 80% positive over 400 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $600. All of the 6 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 37 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.6 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
Arctic Eggs 2024 · $1.6M 
To Hell With The Ugly 2023 · $80k 
The Zodiac Trial 2021 · $64k 
Regular Factory: Escape Room 2022 · $63k 
Psychroma 2024 · $58k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Arctic Eggs | older | $9.99 | 5,343 95% | 160k | $1.6M (exactly $1,601,297) | The Water Museum, cockydoody, abmarnie,… (The Water Museum, cockydoody, abmarnie, Cameron Ginex) |
| | To Hell With The Ugly | older | $19.99 | 133 87% | 4.0k | $80k (exactly $79,760) | La Poule Noire, ARTE France |
| | The Zodiac Trial | older | $14.99 | 142 95% | 4.3k | $64k (exactly $63,857) | Themisian |
| | Regular Factory: Escape Room | older | $9.99 | 210 91% | 6.3k | $63k (exactly $62,937) | mc2games |
| | Psychroma | older | $9.99 | 193 88% | 5.8k | $58k (exactly $57,842) | Rocket Adrift |
 | Terminal 81 | older | $4.99 | 277 96% | 8.3k | $41k (exactly $41,467) | David Pateti |
 | how to kill a fly [ H2KAF ] | $9.99 | 71 97% | 2.1k | $21k (exactly $21,279) | Radtel Collective | |
 | Trading Card Inspector | $6.99 | 89 96% | 2.7k | $19k (exactly $18,663) | Daydream Gallery | |
 | The Divine Deception | older | $14.99 | 38 86% | 1.1k | $17k (exactly $17,089) | Themisian |
 | MALL MANAGER SIMULATOR | $4.99 | 98 40% | 2.9k | $15k (exactly $14,671) | Krisztian Blaha, KINETIC MOBILE GAMES | |
 | Farmer’s Market Simulator | · EA | $11.99 | 40 87% | 1.2k | $14k (exactly $14,388) | Heze Games |
 | Lern Island Letters | $2.99 | 65 93% | 2.0k | $5.8k (exactly $5,830) | River and Oak | |
 | An Engineer and the Great Machine | $15.99 | 10 100% | 300 | $4.8k (exactly $4,797) | Gentlegear Games | |
 | Roman Sands RE:Build | $14.99 | 10 100% | 300 | $4.5k (exactly $4,497) | Arbitrary Metric | |
 | GlobalQuarantine | $4.99 | 6 33% | 180 | $898 (exactly $898) | Contagio Games | |
 | Agents! Please? | $4.04 | 7 100% | 210 | $848 (exactly $848) | KIB Games | |
 | A Totally Legal Archaeology Adventure | $4.99 | 4 75% | 120 | $599 (exactly $599) | Exponential production |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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