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Should I ship a Space Choices Matter game?
Choices Matter + Space
Of 184 developers who shipped a Space 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.. 363 more are announced, ×3.2 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 $180; 1 in 20 cleared $290k, ×463 the market median. Revenue is down 25% on the market; 363 games are announced against 115 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $179 (exactly $179) |
|---|---|
| Median | $719 (exactly $719) |
| Top 25% | $7.3k (exactly $7,340) |
| Top 5% | $291k (exactly $290,854) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 184 |
| Released games | 452 |
| Announced | 363 |
| 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 down 25% on the market, supply 65% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 13%, 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
- Space
- 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, Simulation, Exploration
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, 2D, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 77% positive over 42,579 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $180. 8 in 10 of the 78 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 363 games are announced against 115 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.2 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
Mass Effect™ Legendary Edition 2021 · $112M 
Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy 2021 · $64M 
Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader 2023 · $51M 
Star Wars Outlaws 2024 · $26M 
Mass Effect™: Andromeda Deluxe Edition 2020 · $20M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Mass Effect™ Legendary Edition | older | $59.99 | 62,205 91% | 1.9M | $112M (exactly $111,950,338) | BioWare |
| | Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy | older | $59.99 | 35,397 93% | 1.1M | $64M (exactly $63,703,981) | Eidos-Montréal |
| | Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader | older | $49.99 | 33,701 87% | 1.0M | $51M (exactly $50,541,390) | Owlcat Games |
| | Star Wars Outlaws | $69.99 | 12,268 71% | 368k | $26M (exactly $25,759,120) | Massive Entertainment – A Ubisoft Studio | |
| | Mass Effect™: Andromeda Deluxe Edition | older | $39.99 | 16,741 73% | 502k | $20M (exactly $20,084,178) | BioWare |
 | The Outer Worlds 2 | $69.99 | 8,450 73% | 254k | $18M (exactly $17,742,465) | Obsidian Entertainment | |
 | IXION | older | $34.99 | 15,281 77% | 458k | $16M (exactly $16,040,466) | Bulwark Studios |
 | Mass Effect (2007) | older | $29.99 | 14,871 93% | 446k | $13M (exactly $13,379,439) | BioWare |
 | Sins of a Solar Empire II | older | $49.99 | 7,147 83% | 214k | $11M (exactly $10,718,356) | Ironclad Games Corporation, Stardock En… (Ironclad Games Corporation, Stardock Entertainment) |
 | Stranded: Alien Dawn | older | $34.99 | 9,715 84% | 291k | $10M (exactly $10,197,836) | Haemimont Games |
 | Quasimorph | $24.99 | 7,196 82% | 216k | $5.4M (exactly $5,394,841) | Magnum Scriptum | |
 | Star Trek: Voyager - Across the Unknown | $34.99 | 4,162 79% | 125k | $4.4M (exactly $4,368,851) | Gamexcite | |
 | The Crust | $31.99 | 3,502 76% | 105k | $3.4M (exactly $3,360,869) | VEOM Studio | |
 | Void War | $19.99 | 3,653 94% | 110k | $2.2M (exactly $2,190,704) | Tundra | |
 | Directive 8020 | $49.99 | 1,337 63% | 40k | $2.0M (exactly $2,005,099) | Supermassive Games | |
 | Reality Break | $24.99 | 683 80% | 20k | $512k (exactly $512,045) | Element Games, LLC | |
 | Stories from Sol: The Gun-Dog | $14.99 | 843 90% | 25k | $379k (exactly $379,097) | Space Colony Studios | |
 | Whisker Squadron: Survivor | $19.99 | 485 77% | 15k | $291k (exactly $290,854) | Flippfly LLC |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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