Do I ship it?

Games › Programming › Programming + Crime

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Crime Programming game?

Programming + Crime

Only 12 developers shipped a Crime Programming game in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, HackHub - Ultimate Hacker Simulator, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 13 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.8k, ×2.9 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $900. Revenue is up 210% on the market; 13 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.9 times the market baseline, revenue up 210% on the market, 13 announced, ×1.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Programming + Crime
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 12
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $444k → $1.2k → $7.8k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Programming + Crime: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 12
Bottom 30% $898 (exactly $898)
Median $1.8k (exactly $1,798)
Top 25% $14k (exactly $14,222)
Top 5% $478k (exactly $477,589)
Developers, 2 yr 12
Released games 27
Announced 13
Effort 6 / 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 210% on the market, supply 200% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 11%, 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.

Programming
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
Crime
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Programming
Price point
$5.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 10 games average 85% positive over 1,329 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $900, median $1.8k, 1 in 4 over $14k, 1 in 20 over $470k.

3 in 10 developers made under $900. 13 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Base BuildingFair13 devs · median $53k · 21 announced
  2. + Auto BattlerFair14 devs · median $14k · 14 announced
  3. + RogueliteFair24 devs · median $9.3k · 28 announced
  4. + SandboxFair60 devs · median $7.0k · 71 announced
  5. + Time ManagementFair15 devs · median $7.0k · 26 announced
  6. + AutomationFair84 devs · median $3.8k · 102 announced
  7. + Turn-Based TacticsFair14 devs · median $2.4k · 16 announced
  8. + SimulationFair132 devs · median $2.2k · 174 announced
  9. + RobotsFair24 devs · median $1.8k · 29 announced
  10. + Sci-fiFair56 devs · median $1.7k · 63 announced
  11. + FuturisticFair19 devs · median $1.2k · 25 announced
  12. + IdlerFair25 devs · median $1.1k · 29 announced

All 57 pairs on the Programming page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Hacknet 2015 · $5.1M Arctic Eggs 2024 · $1.6M Grey Hack 2017 · EA · $1.1M Hacker Simulator 2021 · $922k HackHub - Ultimate Hacker Simulator 2026 · $478k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Hacknet older $9.99 16,910 93% 507k $5.1M (exactly $5,067,927) Team Fractal Alligator
Arctic Eggs older $9.99 5,343 95% 160k $1.6M (exactly $1,601,297) The Water Museum, cockydoody, abmarnie,… (The Water Museum, cockydoody, abmarnie, Cameron Ginex)
Grey Hack · EA older $19.99 1,801 90% 54k $1.1M (exactly $1,080,060) Loading Home
Hacker Simulator older $24.99 1,230 74% 37k $922k (exactly $922,131) Save All Studio
HackHub - Ultimate Hacker Simulator $16.99 937 88% 28k $478k (exactly $477,589) HotBunny
Anonymous Hacker Simulator older $19.99 741 85% 22k $444k (exactly $444,378) Sicarius
Midnight Protocol older $14.99 237 87% 7.1k $107k (exactly $106,579) LuGus Studios
[Chilla's Art] The Ghost Train | 幽霊列車 older $2.99 627 78% 19k $56k (exactly $56,242) Chilla's Art
Hacker's Journey $4.99 228 76% 6.8k $34k (exactly $34,132) Electric Heart
How To Hack In? · EA older $12.99 41 87% 1.2k $16k (exactly $15,978) Red Buffalo Interactive
Hacky $4.99 95 93% 2.9k $14k (exactly $14,222) Cuddle Code
Blackdoor $12.99 20 85% 600 $7.8k (exactly $7,794) Static Signal
Torrent Empire $7.99 24 62% 720 $5.8k (exactly $5,753) Steel Games
Cyber Academy · EA $11.99 5 100% 150 $1.8k (exactly $1,798) JinjaGames
A Home Is Safe $7.99 5 80% 150 $1.2k (exactly $1,198) Beto Damian
Silent Signals $4.99 7 0% 210 $1.0k (exactly $1,048) Vezir Games
HELLO HACKER $5.99 5 100% 150 $898 (exactly $898) h3ll0h4ck3r
Dark Web: Vigilante · EA $4.99 3 100% 90 $449 (exactly $449) Edgebyter_

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