Games › Time Manipulation › Time Manipulation + Cyberpunk
Should I ship a Cyberpunk Time Manipulation game?
Time Manipulation + Cyberpunk
Only 18 developers shipped a Cyberpunk Time Manipulation 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, Deadeye Deepfake Simulacrum, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 42 more are announced, ×3.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.1k, ×3.3 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $900; 1 in 20 cleared $320k, ×521 the market median. Revenue is up 235% on the market; 42 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $899 (exactly $899) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.1k (exactly $2,098) |
| Top 25% | $6.7k (exactly $6,746) |
| Top 5% | $327k (exactly $326,958) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 18 |
| Released games | 58 |
| Announced | 42 |
| Effort | 5 / 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 up 235% on the market, supply 55% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 16%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Time Manipulation
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Cyberpunk
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Time Manipulation; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Action-Adventure, Bullet Hell
- Price point
- $8.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Pixel Graphics, Retro
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.
The top 10 games average 91% positive over 2,245 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $900. All of the 8 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 42 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Time Manipulation with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + DemonsFair
- + CapitalismFair
- + ModernFair
- + PsychologicalFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + RacingFair
- + Precision PlatformerFair
- + Choose Your Own AdventurePoor odds
- + RobotsPoor odds
- + Post-apocalypticPoor odds
- + DetectivePoor odds
- + NoirPoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Katana ZERO | older | $14.99 | 66,341 97% | 2.0M | $30M (exactly $29,833,548) | Askiisoft |
| | SUPERHOT | older | $24.99 | 27,765 91% | 833k | $21M (exactly $20,815,420) | SUPERHOT Team |
| | SUPERHOT: MIND CONTROL DELETE | older | $24.99 | 9,247 85% | 277k | $6.9M (exactly $6,932,476) | SUPERHOT Team |
| | SUPERHOT VR | older | $24.99 | 7,978 82% | 239k | $6.0M (exactly $5,981,107) | SUPERHOT Team |
| | Nobody Wants to Die | older | $24.99 | 5,818 83% | 175k | $4.4M (exactly $4,361,755) | Critical Hit Games |
| | Deadeye Deepfake Simulacrum | $12.99 | 839 98% | 25k | $327k (exactly $326,958) | nodayshalleraseyou | |
| | Ascend to ZERO | $11.99 | 867 82% | 26k | $312k (exactly $311,860) | Flyway Games, Inc. | |
| | MotionRec | $9.99 | 430 99% | 13k | $129k (exactly $128,871) | HANDSUM | |
| | District Steel | · EA older | $24.99 | 76 93% | 2.3k | $57k (exactly $56,977) | Barricade Studio |
| | Wanted Killer VR | · EA older | $9.99 | 107 78% | 3.2k | $32k (exactly $32,068) | Playsnak |
| | COLD VR | $19.99 | 28 60% | 840 | $17k (exactly $16,792) | ALLWARE LLC | |
| | Remnants of the Rift | $14.99 | 15 86% | 450 | $6.7k (exactly $6,746) | Bromio | |
| | CYBER92 DATAWAR | $9.92 | 14 50% | 420 | $4.2k (exactly $4,166) | Cyber92 Solo Developer | |
| | Echobreaker | $8.99 | 12 100% | 360 | $3.2k (exactly $3,236) | Upstream Arcade | |
| | KeyBreach | $4.99 | 21 95% | 630 | $3.1k (exactly $3,144) | sawworm Games | |
| | Check & Clean | $13.99 | 5 80% | 150 | $2.1k (exactly $2,098) | Unexpected Games | |
| | Broken Time | $3.99 | 14 100% | 420 | $1.7k (exactly $1,676) | N777 |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.