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Should I ship a Choose Your Own Adventure FPS?
FPS + Choose Your Own Adventure
Of 36 developers who shipped a Choose Your Own Adventure FPS 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.. 71 more are announced, ×4.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.2k, ×0.8 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $750k, ×506 the market median. Revenue is down 60% on the market; 71 games are announced against 17 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $299 (exactly $299) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.2k (exactly $1,198) |
| Top 25% | $8.1k (exactly $8,084) |
| Top 5% | $758k (exactly $757,883) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 36 |
| Released games | 126 |
| Announced | 71 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $4.99 |
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 60% on the market, supply 15% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 13%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- FPS
- effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
- Choose Your Own Adventure
- effort 2 / 10 · high · branching text with light state
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- FPS, Choose Your Own Adventure; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration, Interactive Fiction
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person, Story Rich
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 82% positive over 5,130 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 9 in 10 of the 21 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 71 games are announced against 17 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
FPS with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + Dating SimFair
- + IdlerFair
- + GamblingFair
- + FaithFair
- + Precision PlatformerFair
- + Martial ArtsFair
- + Walking SimulatorFair
- + RunnerLong shot
- + Action RTSLong shot
- + Bullet HellLong shot
- + DogsLong shot
Comparable games
DayZ 2018 · $582M 
To Be or Not to Be 2022 · $3.1M 
Car Service Together 2026 · EA · $2.2M 
DRACU-RIOT! 2026 · $758k 
Yusetsu 2022 · $643k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | DayZ | older | $49.99 | 387,850 78% | 12M | $582M (exactly $581,658,645) | Bohemia Interactive |
| | To Be or Not to Be | older | $12.99 | 8,035 89% | 241k | $3.1M (exactly $3,131,240) | Team K |
| | Car Service Together | · EA | $19.99 | 3,589 79% | 108k | $2.2M (exactly $2,152,323) | V12 Studio |
| | DRACU-RIOT! | $34.99 | 722 98% | 22k | $758k (exactly $757,883) | YUZUSOFT | |
| | Yusetsu | older | $16.99 | 1,262 88% | 38k | $643k (exactly $643,241) | DSGame |
 | Backrooms Rec. | · EA older | $6.99 | 1,830 68% | 55k | $384k (exactly $383,751) | Liminal Logic |
 | Saimin Gakushū: Secret Desire | older | $19.99 | 495 73% | 15k | $297k (exactly $296,852) | Dark One! |
 | Kuroinu Redux | older | $19.99 | 441 77% | 13k | $264k (exactly $264,468) | Liquid |
 | Rock Star Life Simulator | $12.49 | 498 85% | 15k | $187k (exactly $186,601) | HOGO Games | |
 | Xenus 2. White gold. | older | $14.99 | 268 76% | 8.0k | $121k (exactly $120,520) | Deep Shadows |
 | Absolute-Full-Life | $14.99 | 68 76% | 2.0k | $31k (exactly $30,580) | The Only Way Out | |
 | Spiritual Bond ～Breaking the curse, Intertwining fates～ | $5.99 | 98 82% | 2.9k | $18k (exactly $17,611) | MONRA | |
 | Alice's Lullaby | $14.99 | 37 83% | 1.1k | $17k (exactly $16,639) | Ape Law | |
 | Life in red line | · EA | $17.99 | 26 76% | 780 | $14k (exactly $14,032) | Pecha games |
 | Brooks in Wild West | $11.99 | 27 74% | 810 | $9.7k (exactly $9,712) | PiggyNose Games | |
 | Digging the Forgotten Cave | $4.99 | 54 75% | 1.6k | $8.1k (exactly $8,084) | Cavernauts | |
 | Backrooms: Partygoers | $11.99 | 11 90% | 330 | $4.0k (exactly $3,957) | Mascot Bro Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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