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Should I ship a Crafting Walking Simulator?
Crafting + Walking Simulator
Of 36 developers who shipped a Crafting Walking Simulator 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.. 97 more are announced, ×3.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $4.0k, ×6.4 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.2k; 1 in 20 cleared $250k, ×413 the market median. Revenue is down 85% on the market; 97 games are announced against 26 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.2k (exactly $1,198) |
|---|---|
| Median | $4.0k (exactly $4,037) |
| Top 25% | $10k (exactly $10,496) |
| Top 5% | $260k (exactly $259,540) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 36 |
| Released games | 106 |
| Announced | 97 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| 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 85% on the market, supply 160% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 16%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Crafting
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Walking Simulator
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Crafting, Walking Simulator; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Exploration, Simulation, Adventure
- Price point
- $8.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Atmospheric, Realistic
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.
The top 10 games average 71% positive over 8,546 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.2k. 7 in 10 of the 17 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 97 games are announced against 26 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.7 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Crafting with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Job SimulatorStrong odds
- + SportsFair
- + Turn-BasedFair
- + IdlerFair
- + SolitaireFair
- + LovecraftianPoor odds
- + MMORPGPoor odds
- + LGBTQ+Poor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + WesternPoor odds
- + Bullet HeavenPoor odds
- + TrainsPoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | The Long Dark | older | $19.99 | 110,264 89% | 3.3M | $66M (exactly $66,125,321) | Hinterland Studio Inc. |
| | Miscreated | older | $29.99 | 23,050 66% | 692k | $21M (exactly $20,738,085) | Entrada Interactive LLC |
| | Cube World | older | $19.99 | 9,885 42% | 297k | $5.9M (exactly $5,928,034) | Picroma |
| | Tank Mechanic Simulator | older | $19.99 | 8,792 87% | 264k | $5.3M (exactly $5,272,562) | DeGenerals S.A. |
| | Longvinter | $19.99 | 6,951 68% | 209k | $4.2M (exactly $4,168,515) | Uuvana Studios | |
| | The Solus Project | older | $19.99 | 2,471 79% | 74k | $1.5M (exactly $1,481,859) | Hourences, Grip Games |
| | CastleMiner Z | older | $5.99 | 7,939 83% | 238k | $1.4M (exactly $1,426,638) | DigitalDNA Games |
| | Junkyard Simulator | · EA older | $19.99 | 2,182 64% | 65k | $1.3M (exactly $1,308,545) | Rebelia Games |
| | ZED ZONE | · EA older | $11.99 | 3,506 81% | 105k | $1.3M (exactly $1,261,108) | Leven Liu |
| | Salt | older | $14.99 | 1,959 75% | 59k | $881k (exactly $880,962) | Lavaboots Studios |
| | GIRLS MADE PUDDING | $9.99 | 866 95% | 26k | $260k (exactly $259,540) | Kazuhide Oka | |
| | Project: Mist | · EA | $17.99 | 257 72% | 7.7k | $139k (exactly $138,703) | Chicken Launcher |
| | Short Snow | Cold Survival Game | $8.99 | 153 50% | 4.6k | $41k (exactly $41,264) | MubDev | |
| | Sports: Renovations | $24.99 | 53 58% | 1.6k | $40k (exactly $39,734) | Goat Gamez | |
| | Village Merchant | $14.99 | 60 68% | 1.8k | $27k (exactly $26,982) | Beast Games S. A., Console Labs S. A. | |
| | Biztopia | · EA | $7.99 | 105 68% | 3.2k | $25k (exactly $25,168) | Lymo Games |
| | Ember's Verge | $14.99 | 51 88% | 1.5k | $23k (exactly $22,935) | Feralless Games | |
| | Nova Antarctica | $24.99 | 14 78% | 420 | $10k (exactly $10,496) | RexLabo, PARCO GAMES | |
| | Sushi Simulator | $7.99 | 36 75% | 1.1k | $8.6k (exactly $8,629) | C51 Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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