Games › Immersive Sim › Immersive Sim + Cooking
Should I ship a Cooking Immersive Sim?
Immersive Sim + Cooking
Of 145 developers who shipped a Cooking Immersive Sim 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.. 257 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $6.0k, ×4.0 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.1k; 1 in 20 cleared $630k, ×421 the market median. Revenue is down 25% on the market; 257 games are announced against 91 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.1k (exactly $1,079) |
|---|---|
| Median | $6.0k (exactly $5,994) |
| Top 25% | $37k (exactly $36,514) |
| Top 5% | $630k (exactly $630,145) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 145 |
| Released games | 266 |
| Announced | 257 |
| Effort | 8 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $8.99 |
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: 16%, 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
- Cooking
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 8 / 10 · online systems, open world
- Systems
- Immersive Sim, Cooking; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Management, Life Sim
- Price point
- $8.99 typical · top 25% priced $16.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person, Relaxing
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $16.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 42,096 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.1k. 7 in 10 of the 68 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 257 games are announced against 91 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Immersive Sim with a different second tag, 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
Disney Dreamlight Valley 2023 · $26M 
Hello Kitty Island Adventure 2025 · $12M 
Starsand Island 2026 · $7.1M 
Fast Food Simulator 2024 · EA · $3.9M 
Kebab Chefs! - Restaurant Simulator 2026 · $3.8M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Disney Dreamlight Valley | older | $39.99 | 22,027 92% | 661k | $26M (exactly $26,425,792) | Gameloft |
| | Hello Kitty Island Adventure | $39.99 | 9,637 93% | 289k | $12M (exactly $11,561,509) | Sunblink | |
| | Starsand Island | $39.99 | 5,898 76% | 177k | $7.1M (exactly $7,075,831) | Seed Sparkle Lab | |
| | Fast Food Simulator | · EA | $14.99 | 8,653 86% | 260k | $3.9M (exactly $3,891,254) | No Ceiling Games |
| | Kebab Chefs! - Restaurant Simulator | $17.99 | 7,019 83% | 211k | $3.8M (exactly $3,788,154) | Biotech Gameworks | |
 | Feed the Cups | · EA older | $15.99 | 4,708 72% | 141k | $2.3M (exactly $2,258,428) | Vambear Games |
 | Chef Life: A Restaurant Simulator | older | $29.99 | 2,222 83% | 67k | $2.0M (exactly $1,999,133) | Cyanide Studio |
 | Good Pizza, Great Pizza - Cooking Simulator Game | older | $9.99 | 6,261 87% | 188k | $1.9M (exactly $1,876,422) | TapBlaze |
 | Tavern Manager Simulator 🍻 | older | $14.99 | 4,018 91% | 121k | $1.8M (exactly $1,806,895) | One More Time |
 | Crossroads Inn Anniversary Edition | older | $14.99 | 3,579 55% | 107k | $1.6M (exactly $1,609,476) | Klabater |
 | Wrap House Simulator🌯 | $14.99 | 2,951 87% | 89k | $1.3M (exactly $1,327,065) | Broken Lyre Entertainment, Wendigo Games | |
 | Restaurats | $19.90 | 1,640 89% | 49k | $979k (exactly $979,080) | toR Studio | |
 | KuloNiku: Bowl Up! | $11.99 | 2,295 96% | 69k | $826k (exactly $825,512) | Gambir Studio | |
 | Kemono Teatime | $12.99 | 1,617 95% | 49k | $630k (exactly $630,145) | Studio Lalala, Kotoneiro, WHO YOU | |
 | Boba Cafe Simulator | $15.99 | 1,192 92% | 36k | $572k (exactly $571,802) | Caikemi | |
 | To Pixelia | $14.99 | 1,194 73% | 36k | $537k (exactly $536,942) | Pixeduo Studios |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.