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Should I ship a Demon Choices Matter game?
Choices Matter + Demons
Of 141 developers who shipped a Demon Choices Matter 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.. 209 more are announced, ×2.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.7k, ×3.5 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $420; 1 in 20 cleared $280k, ×606 the market median. Revenue is down 30% on the market; 209 games are announced against 87 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $419 (exactly $419) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.7k (exactly $1,678) |
| Top 25% | $9.9k (exactly $9,890) |
| Top 5% | $288k (exactly $288,012) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 141 |
| Released games | 323 |
| Announced | 209 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| 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 down 30% on the market, supply 60% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 8%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Choices Matter
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Demons
- 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
- Choices Matter; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Multiple Endings, Visual Novel
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $16.66 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, Atmospheric, Dark
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $16.66 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 91% positive over 19,578 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $420. 8 in 10 of the 61 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 209 games are announced against 87 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Choices Matter with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Escape RoomFair
- + SportsFair
- + RhythmFair
- + Hidden ObjectFair
- + TriviaFair
- + Board GameFair
- + RacingFair
- + ChessFair
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
- + RomePoor odds
- + World War IPoor odds
Comparable games
Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate - Daemonhunters 2022 · $15M 
Monster Train 2020 · $15M 
Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance 2024 · $14M 
The Coffin of Andy and Leyley 2023 · EA · $13M 
The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes 2021 · $6.6M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate - Daemonhunters | older | $44.99 | 11,426 76% | 343k | $15M (exactly $15,421,672) | Complex Games |
| | Monster Train | older | $24.99 | 19,950 95% | 599k | $15M (exactly $14,956,515) | Shiny Shoe |
| | Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance | older | $59.99 | 7,858 91% | 236k | $14M (exactly $14,142,043) | ATLUS |
| | The Coffin of Andy and Leyley | · EA older | $11.99 | 36,603 96% | 1.1M | $13M (exactly $13,166,099) | Kit9 Studio |
| | The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes | older | $29.99 | 7,360 89% | 221k | $6.6M (exactly $6,621,792) | Supermassive Games |
 | Monster Train 2 | $24.99 | 8,647 95% | 259k | $6.5M (exactly $6,482,656) | Shiny Shoe | |
 | Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne HD Remaster | older | $49.99 | 3,989 87% | 120k | $6.0M (exactly $5,982,303) | ATLUS |
 | Kingdom Rush Vengeance - Tower Defense | older | $19.99 | 9,906 93% | 297k | $5.9M (exactly $5,940,628) | Ironhide Game Studio |
 | Carnal Instinct | · EA older | $29.99 | 5,407 82% | 162k | $4.9M (exactly $4,864,678) | Team Carnal Instinct |
 | Monster Prom | older | $11.99 | 12,245 93% | 367k | $4.4M (exactly $4,404,526) | Beautiful Glitch |
 | Hell Clock | $19.99 | 3,535 82% | 106k | $2.1M (exactly $2,119,940) | Rogue Snail | |
 | DevilConnection | $16.66 | 1,951 98% | 59k | $975k (exactly $975,110) | ChaoGames | |
 | A.I.L.A | $29.99 | 889 81% | 27k | $800k (exactly $799,833) | Pulsatrix Studios | |
 | Necrophosis | $15.99 | 722 89% | 22k | $346k (exactly $346,343) | Dragonis Ares, Adonis Brosteanu | |
 | Mama's Sleeping Angels | $9.99 | 1,040 93% | 31k | $312k (exactly $311,688) | itamu | |
 | Forbidden Fantasy | $6.99 | 1,459 88% | 44k | $306k (exactly $305,952) | OppaiMan Studios | |
 | Paranormal Cleanup | $9.99 | 961 88% | 29k | $288k (exactly $288,012) | Manic Mice | |
 | Dream Cage | $7.99 | 298 63% | 8.9k | $71k (exactly $71,431) | Hitori De Productions | |
 | Karigurashi Ren'ai: Living on Borrowed Love | $29.99 | 76 92% | 2.3k | $68k (exactly $68,377) | ASa Project |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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