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Should I ship a Robot Choices Matter game?
Choices Matter + Robots
Of 54 developers who shipped a Robot 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.. 120 more are announced, ×4.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $720, ×1.1 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $240k, ×392 the market median. Revenue is up 45% on the market; 120 games are announced against 30 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $299 (exactly $299) |
|---|---|
| Median | $719 (exactly $719) |
| Top 25% | $10k (exactly $10,132) |
| Top 5% | $246k (exactly $245,902) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 54 |
| Released games | 143 |
| Announced | 120 |
| Effort | 5 / 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 up 45% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 9%, 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
- Robots
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Choices Matter; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Multiple Endings, Dating Sim
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, Atmospheric, Emotional
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 73% positive over 5,039 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 8 in 10 of the 24 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 120 games are announced against 30 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.0 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
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Detroit: Become Human | older | $39.99 | 226,411 96% | 6.8M | $272M (exactly $271,625,277) | Quantic Dream |
| | Terminator: Resistance | older | $39.99 | 16,665 91% | 500k | $20M (exactly $19,993,000) | Teyon |
| | ATRI -My Dear Moments- | older | $20.99 | 21,411 98% | 642k | $13M (exactly $13,482,507) | Frontwing, 枕 |
| | The Invincible | older | $29.99 | 10,055 87% | 302k | $9.0M (exactly $9,046,484) | Starward Industries |
| | Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus II | $39.99 | 2,088 53% | 63k | $2.5M (exactly $2,504,974) | Bulwark Studios | |
| | Projekt: Passion - Season 1 | older | $11.99 | 3,501 92% | 105k | $1.3M (exactly $1,259,310) | Classy Lemon |
| | LEFT ALIVE™ | older | $59.99 | 622 31% | 19k | $1.1M (exactly $1,119,413) | Square Enix |
| | Primordia | older | $9.99 | 2,975 96% | 89k | $892k (exactly $891,608) | Wormwood Studios |
| | ROBOTICS;NOTES ELITE | older | $34.99 | 698 90% | 21k | $733k (exactly $732,691) | MAGES. Inc. |
| | The Uncertain: Last Quiet Day | older | $9.99 | 1,680 76% | 50k | $503k (exactly $503,496) | ComonGames |
| | Sexbot | $14.99 | 723 86% | 22k | $325k (exactly $325,133) | Llamamann Games | |
| | Arctic Awakening | $24.99 | 328 84% | 9.8k | $246k (exactly $245,902) | GoldFire Studios | |
| | ToHeart | $19.99 | 313 87% | 9.4k | $188k (exactly $187,706) | AQUAPLUS | |
| | 我的机器人女友 | $4.99 | 911 90% | 27k | $136k (exactly $136,377) | 时娱游戏 | |
| | BatteryNote | $11.99 | 203 98% | 6.1k | $73k (exactly $73,019) | 72studio | |
| | PROJECT TACHYON | $17.99 | 117 83% | 3.5k | $63k (exactly $63,145) | STUDIO N9 | |
| | Train and Tame | $9.99 | 184 65% | 5.5k | $55k (exactly $55,145) | Tames Games | |
| | The Cuniculus of Paradise | $16.99 | 57 87% | 1.7k | $29k (exactly $29,053) | Doubles Core | |
| | Endless Dark | $7.99 | 115 99% | 3.5k | $28k (exactly $27,566) | Little Light Studios, LLC |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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