Do I ship it?

GamesChoices MatterChoices Matter + Heist

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Heist Choices Matter game?

Choices Matter + Heist

Of 20 developers who shipped a Heist 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.. 30 more are announced.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $3.4k, ×5.4 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $25M, ×41018 the market median. Revenue is down 85% on the market; 30 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 5.4 times the market baseline, revenue down 85% on the market, 30 announced, ×1.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Choices Matter + Heist
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 20
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.2k → $1.8k → $14k → $12k → $419 (still earning) → $57k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Choices Matter + Heist: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 20
Bottom 30% $449 (exactly $449)
Median $3.4k (exactly $3,418)
Top 25% $57k (exactly $56,977)
Top 5% $26M (exactly $25,759,120)
Developers, 2 yr 20
Released games 47
Announced 30
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
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 down 85% on the market, supply 300% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 4%, 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.

Choices Matter
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
Heist
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Choices Matter; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Action-Adventure, Co-op
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, Colorful, First-Person
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 73% positive over 16,320 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $450, median $3.4k, 1 in 4 over $56k, 1 in 20 over $25M.

3 in 10 developers made under $450. 6 in 10 of the 5 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 30 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Choices Matter with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + FMVStrong odds108 devs · median $58k · 91 announced
  2. + Escape RoomFair18 devs · median $4.7k · 15 announced
  3. + SportsFair120 devs · median $2.4k · 150 announced
  4. + RhythmFair36 devs · median $2.4k · 35 announced
  5. + Hidden ObjectFair261 devs · median $802 · 273 announced
  6. + TriviaFair26 devs · median $599 · 30 announced
  7. + Board GameFair119 devs · median $479 · 150 announced
  8. + RacingFair51 devs · median $449 · 54 announced
  9. + ChessFair19 devs · median $419 · 20 announced
  10. + Real-Time with PausePoor odds9 devs · median $215k · 23 announced
  11. + RomePoor odds10 devs · median $160k · 19 announced
  12. + World War IPoor odds10 devs · median $57k · 19 announced

All 243 pairs on the Choices Matter page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Star Wars Outlaws $69.99 12,268 71% 368k $26M (exactly $25,759,120) Massive Entertainment – A Ubisoft Studio
The Greatest Penguin Heist of All Time $14.99 2,361 90% 71k $1.1M (exactly $1,061,742) That Fish, That Other Fish
Twin Mirror older $29.99 997 76% 30k $897k (exactly $897,001) DON'T NOD
Ninki Seiyuu: How to Make a Pop Voice Actress older $39.99 211 91% 6.3k $253k (exactly $253,137) MintCUBE
Forensics: Crime Scene Detective $24.99 288 62% 8.6k $216k (exactly $215,914) Binary Impact, Alchemical Works
Thick As Thieves $4.99 1,106 65% 33k $166k (exactly $165,568) OtherSide Entertainment
Master Magistrate older $29.99 184 90% 5.5k $166k (exactly $165,545) IRODORI
SIMULACRA 3 older $9.99 328 56% 9.8k $98k (exactly $98,302) Kaigan Games
Thief of Thieves older $19.99 153 72% 4.6k $92k (exactly $91,754) Rival Games
Cybernetic Seduction - Season 1 older $12.99 195 80% 5.9k $76k (exactly $75,992) 1Thousand
Thousand Hells: The Underworld Heists $24.99 76 78% 2.3k $57k (exactly $56,977) A Sharp
SEX Police 🔞🚨 $9.99 139 76% 4.2k $42k (exactly $41,658) Play and Cum 💦
ROAD59 A Yakuza’s Last Stand $29.99 27 37% 810 $24k (exactly $24,292) 株式会社ロケットスタジオ
ACCIDENTALLY $12.99 30 60% 900 $12k (exactly $11,691) M&K WORKS
Splittown $19.99 19 94% 570 $11k (exactly $11,394) Mats Kyyrö, Juha Keränen
Unseen Diplomacy 2 $18.99 6 83% 180 $3.4k (exactly $3,418) Triangular Pixels

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