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Should I ship a Choices Matter Quick-Time Events game?
Choices Matter + Quick-Time Events
Of 60 developers who shipped a Choices Matter Quick-Time Events 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.. 80 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 $720, ×1.5 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $1.2M, ×2620 the market median. Revenue is down 70% on the market; 80 games are announced against 33 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $300 (exactly $300) |
|---|---|
| Median | $719 (exactly $719) |
| Top 25% | $27k (exactly $27,432) |
| Top 5% | $1.2M (exactly $1,244,378) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 60 |
| Released games | 149 |
| Announced | 80 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 70% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 12%, 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
- Quick-Time Events
- 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, Quick-Time Events; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Multiple Endings, Adventure, Interactive Fiction
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, Cinematic, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 83% positive over 13,654 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 7 in 10 of the 34 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 80 games are announced against 33 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Choices Matter with a different second tag, 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
The Quarry 2022 · $29M 
The Walking Dead 2012 · $24M 
Beyond: Two Souls 2020 · $22M 
Heavy Rain 2020 · $16M 
The Wolf Among Us 2013 · $15M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | The Quarry | older | $59.99 | 16,127 83% | 484k | $29M (exactly $29,023,762) | Supermassive Games |
| | The Walking Dead | older | $14.99 | 53,650 97% | 1.6M | $24M (exactly $24,126,405) | Telltale Games |
| | Beyond: Two Souls | older | $19.99 | 37,154 87% | 1.1M | $22M (exactly $22,281,254) | Quantic Dream |
| | Heavy Rain | older | $19.99 | 26,503 85% | 795k | $16M (exactly $15,893,849) | Quantic Dream |
| | The Wolf Among Us | older | $14.99 | 32,494 97% | 975k | $15M (exactly $14,612,552) | Telltale |
 | The Walking Dead: Season Two | older | $14.99 | 26,848 96% | 805k | $12M (exactly $12,073,546) | Telltale Games |
 | Tales from the Borderlands | older | $19.99 | 15,101 93% | 453k | $9.1M (exactly $9,056,070) | Telltale Games |
 | Batman - The Telltale Series | older | $14.99 | 15,060 87% | 452k | $6.8M (exactly $6,772,482) | Telltale |
 | Until Dawn™ | $59.99 | 3,564 82% | 107k | $6.4M (exactly $6,414,131) | Ballistic Moon | |
 | The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan | older | $19.99 | 9,244 76% | 277k | $5.5M (exactly $5,543,627) | Supermassive Games |
 | Directive 8020 | $49.99 | 1,337 63% | 40k | $2.0M (exactly $2,005,099) | Supermassive Games | |
 | Hello Love: 18 Again | $19.99 | 2,075 92% | 62k | $1.2M (exactly $1,244,378) | 念念而忘(Echofall Studio) | |
 | Lost But Found | $6.99 | 2,316 71% | 69k | $486k (exactly $485,665) | Rogue Duck Interactive | |
 | The Use of Life | $19.99 | 764 90% | 23k | $458k (exactly $458,171) | だらねこげーむず/Daraneko Games | |
 | The Inn-Sanity | $7.99 | 1,561 96% | 47k | $374k (exactly $374,172) | Steppe Hare Studio | |
 | Growing Things Up - Season 1 | $12.99 | 707 91% | 21k | $276k (exactly $275,518) | King, BLANQ | |
 | THE VIG | $17.99 | 488 90% | 15k | $263k (exactly $263,374) | 亦盈文化, 山与海工作室, 北京超带感 | |
 | Rock Star Life Simulator | $12.49 | 498 85% | 15k | $187k (exactly $186,601) | HOGO Games | |
 | Sorry! I surrounded beauty! | $5.99 | 344 82% | 10k | $62k (exactly $61,817) | Really Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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