Do I ship it?

Games › Programming › Programming + Cyberpunk

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Cyberpunk Programming game?

Programming + Cyberpunk

Of 28 developers who shipped a Cyberpunk Programming 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.. 30 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.0k, ×1.7 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $450. Revenue is up 130% on the market; 30 games are announced against 22 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.7 times the market baseline, revenue up 130% on the market, 30 announced, ×1.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Programming + Cyberpunk
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 28
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $23k → $719 → $1.3k → $359 (still earning) → $1.8k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Programming + Cyberpunk: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 28
Bottom 30% $449 (exactly $449)
Median $1.0k (exactly $1,048)
Top 25% $7.6k (exactly $7,645)
Top 5% $76k (exactly $76,098)
Developers, 2 yr 28
Released games 58
Announced 30
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $7.99

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 130% on the market, supply 265% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 10%, 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
Cyberpunk
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Programming; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Logic, Puzzle, Roguelite
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Atmospheric
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 82% positive over 1,046 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $450, median $1.0k, 1 in 4 over $7.6k, 1 in 20 over $76k.

3 in 10 developers made under $450. 8 in 10 of the 6 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 30 games are announced against 22 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. + CrimeFair12 devs · median $1.8k · 13 announced
  11. + Sci-fiFair56 devs · median $1.7k · 63 announced
  12. + FuturisticFair19 devs · median $1.2k · 25 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 EXAPUNKS 2018 · $826k
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
EXAPUNKS older $19.99 1,378 96% 41k $826k (exactly $826,387) Zachtronics
Uplink older $11.99 1,771 89% 53k $637k (exactly $637,029) Introversion Software
Quadrilateral Cowboy older $19.99 897 92% 27k $538k (exactly $537,931) Blendo Games
Anonymous Hacker Simulator older $19.99 741 85% 22k $444k (exactly $444,378) Sicarius
hackmud older $18.99 752 78% 23k $428k (exactly $428,414) ComCODE
The Signal State older $19.99 649 86% 19k $389k (exactly $389,205) Reckoner Industries
Net.Attack() - Code or Die! $7.99 510 80% 15k $122k (exactly $122,247) ByteRockers' Games
Quantum Odyssey · EA $17.99 141 92% 4.2k $76k (exactly $76,098) Quarks Interactive
UNHUMAN $3.99 161 73% 4.8k $19k (exactly $19,272) Kinda Lowkey Games
Hacky $4.99 95 93% 2.9k $14k (exactly $14,222) Cuddle Code
NET.CRAWL $9.99 46 95% 1.4k $14k (exactly $13,786) Everyone is Solid
Blackdoor $12.99 20 85% 600 $7.8k (exactly $7,794) Static Signal
Void Future: Hacking Protocol $14.99 17 88% 510 $7.6k (exactly $7,645) RVL Interactive
Torrent Empire $7.99 24 62% 720 $5.8k (exactly $5,753) Steel Games
AI is Home - Survival Thriller $7.99 23 60% 690 $5.5k (exactly $5,513) pressanykey
Nybble $9.99 9 100% 270 $2.7k (exactly $2,697) Gummy Skunk

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