Games › Life Sim › Life Sim + Crime
Should I ship a Crime Life Sim?
Life Sim + Crime
Of 44 developers who shipped a Crime Life 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.. 115 more are announced, ×4.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $5.7k, ×9.0 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $720; 1 in 20 cleared $830k, ×1332 the market median. Revenue is down 85% on the market; 115 games are announced against 27 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $718 (exactly $718) |
|---|---|
| Median | $5.7k (exactly $5,662) |
| Top 25% | $63k (exactly $62,958) |
| Top 5% | $837k (exactly $836,553) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 44 |
| Released games | 90 |
| Announced | 115 |
| 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 down 85% on the market, supply 60% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 13%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Life Sim; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Immersive Sim, Simulation, Action
- Price point
- $8.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, Realistic, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.
The top 10 games average 86% positive over 21,041 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $720. 5 in 10 of the 17 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 115 games are announced against 27 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Life Sim with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + MinigamesStrong odds
- + MusicStrong odds
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + Football (Soccer)Fair
- + FaithFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + GamblingFair
- + DemonsFair
- + Point & ClickFair
- + LogicFair
- + ZombiesFair
Comparable games
Crime Scene Cleaner 2024 · $29M 
Cash Cleaner Simulator 2025 · $4.4M 
Crime Simulator 2025 · $2.8M 
CHANGE: A Homeless Survival Experience 2020 · $1.6M 
Prison Escape Simulator: Dig Out 2025 · $837k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Crime Scene Cleaner | older | $29.99 | 32,469 98% | 974k | $29M (exactly $29,212,359) | President Studio |
| | Cash Cleaner Simulator | $19.99 | 7,334 92% | 220k | $4.4M (exactly $4,398,200) | Mind Control Games | |
| | Crime Simulator | $14.99 | 6,244 82% | 187k | $2.8M (exactly $2,807,927) | CookieDev | |
| | CHANGE: A Homeless Survival Experience | older | $19.99 | 2,596 91% | 78k | $1.6M (exactly $1,556,821) | Delve Interactive |
| | Prison Escape Simulator: Dig Out | $7.99 | 3,490 85% | 105k | $837k (exactly $836,553) | Digital Melody | |
 | Used Cars Simulator | · EA | $19.99 | 1,147 79% | 34k | $688k (exactly $687,856) | DreamWay Games |
 | Fading Afternoon | older | $19.99 | 959 80% | 29k | $575k (exactly $575,112) | yeo |
 | Drug Lord Tycoon | · EA older | $9.99 | 1,671 83% | 50k | $501k (exactly $500,799) | Duhndal |
 | Saloon Simulator | · EA | $18.99 | 860 89% | 26k | $490k (exactly $489,942) | Glivi Games S.A. |
 | Anonymous Hacker Simulator | older | $19.99 | 741 85% | 22k | $444k (exactly $444,378) | Sicarius |
 | It's Only Money | $24.99 | 473 78% | 14k | $355k (exactly $354,608) | Usual Suspects Studios | |
 | MMA Life Simulator | $16.99 | 435 80% | 13k | $222k (exactly $221,719) | BNS7 | |
 | On Your Tail | $19.99 | 292 87% | 8.8k | $175k (exactly $175,112) | Memorable Games | |
 | Laundering Simulator - Clean Cash and Laundry | $12.99 | 399 81% | 12k | $155k (exactly $155,490) | Ritual Interactive | |
 | Bum: Revenge | · EA | $9.99 | 367 62% | 11k | $110k (exactly $109,990) | Patologgia Interactive |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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