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Should I ship a Cold-War Immersive Sim?
Immersive Sim + Cold War
Only 8 developers shipped a Cold-War Immersive Sim in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Heroines Through My Lens, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 36 more are announced, ×6.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $3.8k, ×2.5 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.8k; 1 in 20 cleared $100k, ×67 the market median. Momentum is unreadable here, too few recent games; 36 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.8k (exactly $1,799) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.8k (exactly $3,774) |
| Top 25% | $19k (exactly $19,424) |
| Top 5% | $101k (exactly $100,750) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 8 |
| Released games | 28 |
| Announced | 36 |
| Effort | 8 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $12.99 |
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 too few recent games to read momentum, supply 200% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 21%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Immersive Sim
- effort 8 / 10 · low · effort 8 sits in the low band
- Cold War
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 8 / 10 · online systems, open world
- Systems
- Immersive Sim
- Price point
- $12.99 typical
Why players buy here
Fewer than 10 games in the last 2 years; sentiment and price figures use the all window.
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $12.99.
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 58,043 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.8k. 36 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year, ×6.0 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Immersive Sim with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Trading Card GameStrong odds
- + MinigamesStrong odds
- + WesternStrong odds
- + BoxingStrong odds
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + Asynchronous MultiplayerFair
- + Dating SimFair
- + RomanceFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + Visual NovelFair
- + Split ScreenFair
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Rising Storm 2: Vietnam | older | $24.99 | 42,381 87% | 1.3M | $32M (exactly $31,773,036) | Antimatter Games, Tripwire Interactive |
| | Gunner, HEAT, PC! | · EA older | $29.99 | 7,603 91% | 228k | $6.8M (exactly $6,840,419) | Radian Simulations LLC |
| | I Expect You To Die | older | $24.99 | 2,169 95% | 65k | $1.6M (exactly $1,626,099) | Schell Games |
| | DEFCON | older | $11.99 | 3,460 86% | 104k | $1.2M (exactly $1,244,562) | Introversion Software |
| | Red Matter | older | $24.99 | 994 90% | 30k | $745k (exactly $745,202) | Vertical Robot |
| | Chornobyl Liquidators | older | $19.99 | 595 50% | 18k | $357k (exactly $356,822) | Live Motion Games, Frozen Way |
| | Dangerous Waters | older | $14.99 | 353 79% | 11k | $159k (exactly $158,744) | Sonalysts |
| | Heroines Through My Lens | $19.99 | 168 87% | 5.0k | $101k (exactly $100,750) | Storytaco | |
| | OVRLRD | · EA older | $29.99 | 96 85% | 2.9k | $86k (exactly $86,371) | OVRLRD |
| | Sonar Shock | older | $7.99 | 224 80% | 6.7k | $54k (exactly $53,693) | Raphael Bossniak |
| | SALVO | $11.99 | 54 77% | 1.6k | $19k (exactly $19,424) | Erdem Şahin, Naim Ozcan | |
| | The Core | · EA | $19.99 | 17 70% | 510 | $10k (exactly $10,195) | Electric Machine Games |
| | Your letter has been rejected. | $5.99 | 21 95% | 630 | $3.8k (exactly $3,774) | MONAZ. | |
| | 12 Months: Vietnam | $3.99 | 16 68% | 480 | $1.9k (exactly $1,915) | AlphaSixGames | |
| | DokiDoki Hanetsuki VR: Paddle & Ink | · EA | $14.99 | 4 100% | 120 | $1.8k (exactly $1,799) | momodu |
| | World War Forex | · EA | $12.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $390 (exactly $390) | Leobot Electronics, Leon Botha, INESSOFT |
| | Dark Sea | $0.99 | 8 87% | 240 | $238 (exactly $238) | DarkSignal Studios |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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