Do I ship it?

GamesSimulationSimulation + Conspiracy

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Conspiracy Simulation game?

Simulation + Conspiracy

Of 78 developers who shipped a Conspiracy Simulation 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.. 170 more are announced, ×3.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.1k, ×1.7 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $420; 1 in 20 cleared $250k, ×400 the market median. Revenue is up 165% on the market; 170 games are announced against 52 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.7 times the market baseline, revenue up 165% on the market, 170 announced, ×3.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Simulation + Conspiracy
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 78
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.4k → $7.2k → $8.4k → $836 → $2.2k → $5.5k → $2.6k (still earning) → $600 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Simulation + Conspiracy: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 78
Bottom 30% $419 (exactly $419)
Median $1.1k (exactly $1,075)
Top 25% $8.2k (exactly $8,150)
Top 5% $251k (exactly $251,496)
Developers, 2 yr 78
Released games 175
Announced 170
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $5.99

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 165% on the market, supply 100% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 15%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Simulation
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Conspiracy
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Simulation; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Puzzle, Visual Novel
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, Story Rich, First-Person
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 89% positive over 13,249 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $420, median $1.1k, 1 in 4 over $8.1k, 1 in 20 over $250k.

3 in 10 developers made under $420. 8 in 10 of the 33 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 170 games are announced against 52 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.3 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Simulation with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + FMVStrong odds150 devs · median $55k · 81 announced
  2. + Escape RoomStrong odds36 devs · median $3.6k · 26 announced
  3. + World War IFair23 devs · median $32k · 32 announced
  4. + Job SimulatorFair285 devs · median $12k · 362 announced
  5. + LGBTQ+Fair272 devs · median $9.7k · 303 announced
  6. + PinballFair27 devs · median $8.2k · 28 announced
  7. + Female ProtagonistFair672 devs · median $5.1k · 754 announced
  8. + BirdsFair19 devs · median $3.8k · 16 announced
  9. + Artificial IntelligenceFair387 devs · median $3.0k · 490 announced
  10. + MusicFair81 devs · median $3.0k · 92 announced
  11. + Auto BattlerFair219 devs · median $2.5k · 293 announced
  12. + ProgrammingFair132 devs · median $2.2k · 174 announced

All 287 pairs on the Simulation page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy- $59.99 6,893 88% 207k $12M (exactly $12,405,332) Too Kyo Games, Media.Vision Inc.
The Operator older $13.99 8,515 91% 255k $3.6M (exactly $3,573,746) Bureau 81
Squirrel with a Gun older $19.99 3,112 86% 93k $1.9M (exactly $1,866,266) Dee Dee Creations LLC
Rollerdrome older $29.99 1,486 91% 45k $1.3M (exactly $1,336,954) Roll7
Shadows of Forbidden Gods older $19.99 1,046 91% 31k $627k (exactly $627,286) Bobby Two Hands
Disney•Pixar Cars 2: The Video Game older $19.99 970 79% 29k $582k (exactly $581,709) Avalanche Software
Rise Of The White Sun - 白日升 older $24.99 721 86% 22k $541k (exactly $540,534) Maestro Cinetik
Sigma Theory: Global Cold War older $17.99 892 77% 27k $481k (exactly $481,412) Mi-Clos Studio, Goblinz Studio, FibreTi… (Mi-Clos Studio, Goblinz Studio, FibreTigre)
The Shell Part II: Purgatorio older $24.99 588 95% 18k $441k (exactly $440,824) Innocent Grey
The Fabulous Fear Machine older $17.99 542 89% 16k $293k (exactly $292,517) Fictiorama Studios
Project P.I.T.T. $9.99 961 78% 29k $288k (exactly $288,012) Froke
Photomaly $6.99 1,292 89% 39k $271k (exactly $270,932) Revira Interactive
CUCKOLD SIMULATOR: Life as a Beta Male Cuck $4.99 1,680 93% 50k $251k (exactly $251,496) Team SNEED
Lost Wiki: Kozlovka $4.99 1,634 96% 49k $245k (exactly $244,610) yattytheman
Rina's Undercover Train Operation $13.99 286 70% 8.6k $120k (exactly $120,034) Metamorphose
Troublemaker 2: Beyond Dream $24.99 142 95% 4.3k $106k (exactly $106,457) Gamecom Team
The Biggleboss Incident $7.99 188 92% 5.6k $45k (exactly $45,064) BUNKWORKS
LAN Party Adventures $14.99 93 89% 2.8k $42k (exactly $41,822) LEAP Game Studios
DETECTIVE - Rainy night $10.99 80 70% 2.4k $26k (exactly $26,376) k148 Game Studio

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.