Games › Investigation › Investigation + Crime
Should I ship a Crime Investigation game?
Investigation + Crime
Of 198 developers who shipped a Crime Investigation 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.. 358 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $3.2k, ×5.2 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $810; 1 in 20 cleared $340k, ×549 the market median. Revenue is up 70% on the market; 358 games are announced against 120 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $807 (exactly $807) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.2k (exactly $3,237) |
| Top 25% | $28k (exactly $27,586) |
| Top 5% | $345k (exactly $344,866) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 198 |
| Released games | 539 |
| Announced | 358 |
| Effort | 6 / 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 up 70% on the market, supply 45% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 9%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Investigation
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Crime
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Investigation; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Puzzle, Visual Novel
- Price point
- $8.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, Atmospheric, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.
The top 10 games average 92% positive over 28,898 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $810. 8 in 10 of the 98 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 358 games are announced against 120 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Investigation with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Escape RoomFair
- + IdlerFair
- + TriviaLong shot
- + LGBTQ+Poor odds
- + JRPGPoor odds
- + HistoricalPoor odds
- + RomancePoor odds
- + GothicPoor odds
- + LovecraftianPoor odds
- + Dating SimPoor odds
- + Card GamePoor odds
- + SciencePoor odds
Comparable games
Police Simulator: Patrol Officers 2022 · $23M 
L.A. Noire 2011 · $19M 
Heavy Rain 2020 · $16M 
Judgment 2022 · $11M 
Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter 2016 · $11M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Police Simulator: Patrol Officers | older | $39.99 | 18,880 75% | 566k | $23M (exactly $22,650,336) | Aesir Interactive |
| | L.A. Noire | older | $19.99 | 31,099 85% | 933k | $19M (exactly $18,650,070) | Team Bondi, Rockstar Leeds |
| | Heavy Rain | older | $19.99 | 26,503 85% | 795k | $16M (exactly $15,893,849) | Quantic Dream |
| | Judgment | older | $39.99 | 9,407 93% | 282k | $11M (exactly $11,285,578) | RGG Studio |
| | Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter | older | $29.99 | 12,076 80% | 362k | $11M (exactly $10,864,777) | Frogwares |
 | Lost Judgment | older | $39.99 | 7,461 93% | 224k | $9.0M (exactly $8,950,962) | RGG Studio |
 | The Precinct | $29.99 | 7,837 87% | 235k | $7.1M (exactly $7,050,949) | Fallen Tree Games Ltd | |
 | Unheard - Voices of Crime | older | $6.99 | 30,978 95% | 929k | $6.5M (exactly $6,496,087) | NEXT Studios |
 | Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments | older | $29.99 | 7,130 89% | 214k | $6.4M (exactly $6,414,861) | Frogwares |
 | Back to the Dawn | $23.99 | 8,555 94% | 257k | $6.2M (exactly $6,157,034) | Metal Head Games | |
 | The Rise of the Golden Idol | $19.99 | 3,786 92% | 114k | $2.3M (exactly $2,270,464) | Color Gray Games | |
 | The Mermaid Mask | $19.99 | 2,776 99% | 83k | $1.7M (exactly $1,664,767) | SFB Games | |
 | No Sleep For Kaname Date - From AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES | $39.99 | 835 79% | 25k | $1.0M (exactly $1,001,750) | Spike Chunsoft Co., Ltd. | |
 | Staffer Retro : A Supernatural Mystery Quest | $24.99 | 922 89% | 28k | $691k (exactly $691,223) | Team Tetrapod | |
 | Trials of Innocence | $16.99 | 1,308 91% | 39k | $667k (exactly $666,688) | 猫龙游戏 | |
 | Loco Motive | $17.99 | 1,211 92% | 36k | $654k (exactly $653,577) | Robust Games | |
 | The Shell Part III: Paradiso | $19.99 | 622 96% | 19k | $373k (exactly $373,013) | Innocent Grey | |
 | Demons' Timeline | $10.99 | 1,046 97% | 31k | $345k (exactly $344,866) | DigitalCats |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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