Games › Walking Simulator › Walking Simulator + Crime
Should I ship a Crime Walking Simulator?
Walking Simulator + Crime
Of 77 developers who shipped a Crime 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.. 85 more are announced, ×2.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $4.7k, ×7.4 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.2k; 1 in 20 cleared $150k, ×248 the market median. Revenue is down 40% on the market; 85 games are announced against 42 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.2k (exactly $1,198) |
|---|---|
| Median | $4.7k (exactly $4,672) |
| Top 25% | $16k (exactly $15,718) |
| Top 5% | $156k (exactly $155,838) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 77 |
| Released games | 159 |
| Announced | 85 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $4.99 |
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 40% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 15%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Walking Simulator
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium 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
- Walking Simulator; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration, Investigation
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, Atmospheric, Story Rich
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 80% positive over 14,092 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.2k. 7 in 10 of the 43 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 85 games are announced against 42 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.0 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Walking Simulator with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + WarFair
- + RomanceFair
- + Escape RoomFair
- + ThrillerFair
- + MusicFair
- + SupernaturalFair
- + Psychological HorrorFair
- + PsychologicalFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Mystery DungeonFair
- + NoirFair
Comparable games
| 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 |
| | Murdered: Soul Suspect | older | $19.99 | 12,051 87% | 362k | $7.2M (exactly $7,226,985) | Airtight Games |
| | Thief Simulator 2 | older | $19.99 | 6,568 87% | 197k | $3.9M (exactly $3,938,830) | CookieDev, Ultimate Games S.A. |
| | This Bed We Made | older | $24.99 | 3,187 90% | 96k | $2.4M (exactly $2,389,294) | Lowbirth Games |
| | Fears to Fathom - Ironbark Lookout | older | $9.99 | 6,081 92% | 182k | $1.8M (exactly $1,822,476) | Rayll Studios |
| | Fears to Fathom® - Scratch Creek | $7.99 | 7,141 75% | 214k | $1.7M (exactly $1,711,698) | Rayll | |
| | Fears to Fathom - Woodbury Getaway | older | $9.99 | 3,470 86% | 104k | $1.0M (exactly $1,039,959) | Rayll Studios |
| | Prison Escape Simulator: Dig Out | $7.99 | 3,490 85% | 105k | $837k (exactly $836,553) | Digital Melody | |
| | Thief Simulator VR | older | $19.99 | 1,368 69% | 41k | $820k (exactly $820,390) | GameBoom VR |
| | Scene Investigators | older | $24.99 | 961 74% | 29k | $720k (exactly $720,462) | EQ Studios |
| | The Skin Stapler | $14.99 | 457 90% | 14k | $206k (exactly $205,513) | Tainted Pact | |
| | The Boba Teashop | $4.99 | 1,041 95% | 31k | $156k (exactly $155,838) | Mike Ten | |
| | Cursed Digicam | 呪われたデジカメ | $7.99 | 611 78% | 18k | $146k (exactly $146,457) | Chilla's Art | |
| | Dread Neighbor | $5.99 | 420 81% | 13k | $75k (exactly $75,474) | Ghostcase | |
| | Dream Cage | $7.99 | 298 63% | 8.9k | $71k (exactly $71,431) | Hitori De Productions | |
| | Secrets of Blackrock Manor - Escape Room | $9.99 | 222 80% | 6.7k | $67k (exactly $66,533) | Biri Biri | |
| | Miami Paradise 2 | $14.99 | 131 94% | 3.9k | $59k (exactly $58,911) | Entropy Digital Entertainment | |
| | [HERROR] Gas Station Case | $5.99 | 281 96% | 8.4k | $50k (exactly $50,496) | [HERROR] |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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