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Should I ship a Steampunk Choices Matter game?
Choices Matter + Steampunk
Of 34 developers who shipped a Steampunk 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.. 78 more are announced, ×3.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.5k, ×2.3 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $240; 1 in 20 cleared $510k, ×820 the market median. Revenue is down 45% on the market; 78 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $239 (exactly $239) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.5k (exactly $1,468) |
| Top 25% | $21k (exactly $21,407) |
| Top 5% | $515k (exactly $515,044) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 34 |
| Released games | 95 |
| Announced | 78 |
| Effort | 5 / 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 45% on the market, supply 45% 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
- Steampunk
- 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; 3 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Multiple Endings, Adventure
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Atmospheric, Story Rich
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 74% positive over 23,436 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $240. 9 in 10 of the 16 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 78 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.9 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
Lies of P 2023 · $105M 
Frostpunk 2018 · $103M 
Frostpunk 2 2024 · $28M 
Dishonored®: Death of the Outsider™ 2017 · $8.8M 
The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles 2021 · $6.1M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Lies of P | older | $59.99 | 58,411 91% | 1.8M | $105M (exactly $105,122,277) | NEOWIZ |
| | Frostpunk | older | $29.99 | 114,376 92% | 3.4M | $103M (exactly $102,904,087) | 11 bit studios |
| | Frostpunk 2 | $44.99 | 20,872 74% | 626k | $28M (exactly $28,170,938) | 11 bit studios | |
| | Dishonored®: Death of the Outsider™ | older | $29.99 | 9,801 86% | 294k | $8.8M (exactly $8,817,960) | Arkane Studios |
| | The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles | older | $39.99 | 5,113 93% | 153k | $6.1M (exactly $6,134,066) | CAPCOM Co., Ltd. |
 | Syberia: The World Before | older | $39.99 | 4,069 89% | 122k | $4.9M (exactly $4,881,579) | Microids Studio Paris |
 | Divinity: Dragon Commander | older | $39.99 | 1,976 73% | 59k | $2.4M (exactly $2,370,607) | Larian Studios |
 | Sunless Skies: Sovereign Edition | older | $24.99 | 2,661 84% | 80k | $2.0M (exactly $1,994,952) | Failbetter Games |
 | Syberia 3 | older | $14.99 | 3,231 51% | 97k | $1.5M (exactly $1,452,981) | Microids |
 | Forgotton Anne | older | $19.99 | 1,646 89% | 49k | $987k (exactly $987,106) | Throughline Games |
 | New Arc Line | · EA | $24.99 | 687 68% | 21k | $515k (exactly $515,044) | Dreamate |
 | Thick As Thieves | $4.99 | 1,106 65% | 33k | $166k (exactly $165,568) | OtherSide Entertainment | |
 | Erannorth Renaissance | $19.99 | 186 81% | 5.6k | $112k (exactly $111,544) | Spyridon Thalassinos | |
 | Duskpunk | $19.99 | 171 91% | 5.1k | $103k (exactly $102,549) | Clockwork Bird, James Patton | |
 | Bonaparte - A Mechanized Revolution | $24.99 | 72 68% | 2.2k | $54k (exactly $53,978) | Studio Imugi | |
 | Slyders | $9.99 | 162 85% | 4.9k | $49k (exactly $48,551) | Kato Games | |
 | Lust Manor: Leona’s Secret | $9.99 | 89 78% | 2.7k | $27k (exactly $26,673) | Kinky Business Group | |
 | The Fool's Apprentice | $16.99 | 42 52% | 1.3k | $21k (exactly $21,407) | The Planar Danse | |
 | Void Sails | $9.99 | 49 69% | 1.5k | $15k (exactly $14,685) | Ticking Clock Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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