Games › Trading › Trading + Crime
Should I ship a Crime Trading game?
Trading + Crime
Only 18 developers shipped a Crime Trading 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, Prison Escape Simulator: Dig Out, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 56 more are announced, ×3.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.6k, ×2.6 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $830k, ×1332 the market median. Revenue is down 100% on the market; 56 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $600 (exactly $600) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.6k (exactly $1,617) |
| Top 25% | $94k (exactly $94,153) |
| Top 5% | $837k (exactly $836,553) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 18 |
| Released games | 40 |
| Announced | 56 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 100% on the market, supply 400% 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
- Trading; all of the top 25% also carry Action, Immersive Sim, Simulation
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 8 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 84% positive over 5,758 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $600. 56 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.7 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Trading with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + MiningFair
- + Score AttackFair
- + MMORPGPoor odds
- + Character CustomizationPoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
- + Co-opPoor odds
- + FlightPoor odds
- + SportsPoor odds
- + CollectathonPoor odds
- + PhysicsPoor odds
- + DrivingPoor odds
- + LootPoor odds
Comparable games
Drug Dealer Simulator 2020 · $11M 
Drug Dealer Simulator 2 2024 · $4.1M 
Definitely Not Fried Chicken 2023 · $1.6M 
Prison Simulator 2021 · $1.4M 
Plutocracy 2019 · EA · $978k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Drug Dealer Simulator | older | $19.99 | 18,297 85% | 549k | $11M (exactly $10,972,711) | Byterunners |
| | Drug Dealer Simulator 2 | older | $24.99 | 5,480 69% | 164k | $4.1M (exactly $4,108,356) | Byterunners |
| | Definitely Not Fried Chicken | older | $24.99 | 2,161 72% | 65k | $1.6M (exactly $1,620,102) | Dope Games |
| | Prison Simulator | older | $19.99 | 2,329 86% | 70k | $1.4M (exactly $1,396,701) | Baked Games |
| | Plutocracy | · EA older | $24.99 | 1,305 79% | 39k | $978k (exactly $978,358) | Redwood |
 | 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 |
 | Prison Boss VR | older | $19.99 | 414 87% | 12k | $248k (exactly $248,276) | TREBUCHET |
 | Laundering Simulator - Clean Cash and Laundry | $12.99 | 399 81% | 12k | $155k (exactly $155,490) | Ritual Interactive | |
 | I Know a Guy: Shady Life Simulator | · EA | $12.99 | 398 90% | 12k | $155k (exactly $155,101) | Bunch'o'Nerds |
 | Crime Shop Simulator: A Prison Boss Game | $19.99 | 157 85% | 4.7k | $94k (exactly $94,153) | TREBUCHET | |
 | Rich List: The Order | · EA | $14.99 | 70 90% | 2.1k | $31k (exactly $31,479) | YUANYE TECH |
 | Speakeasy Simulator | $11.99 | 50 88% | 1.5k | $18k (exactly $17,985) | Arcana Games | |
 | HorSteal | $3.99 | 31 93% | 930 | $3.7k (exactly $3,711) | JebiDeungDeung, Jebi Studio | |
 | Arms Dealer | $5.99 | 9 100% | 270 | $1.6k (exactly $1,617) | Koro Pixel Studio | |
 | Drugy | $6.99 | 7 85% | 210 | $1.5k (exactly $1,468) | IFoxxI |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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