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Should I ship a Dark-Fantasy Parkour game?
Parkour + Dark Fantasy
Of 24 developers who shipped a Dark-Fantasy Parkour 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.. 37 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $3.4k, ×5.3 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $720; 1 in 20 cleared $600k, ×971 the market median. Revenue is down 25% on the market; 37 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $718 (exactly $718) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.4k (exactly $3,356) |
| Top 25% | $251k (exactly $251,149) |
| Top 5% | $610k (exactly $609,895) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 24 |
| Released games | 56 |
| Announced | 37 |
| Effort | 6 / 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 down 25% on the market, supply 65% 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.
- Parkour
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Dark Fantasy
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Parkour; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, 3D Platformer, Platformer
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $39.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, 3D, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $39.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 90% positive over 7,793 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $720. 8 in 10 of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 37 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Parkour with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Walking SimulatorFair
- + Combat RacingFair
- + Precision PlatformerLong shot
- + MetroidvaniaPoor odds
- + SkateboardingPoor odds
- + SwordplayPoor odds
- + Hack and SlashPoor odds
- + ModernPoor odds
- + CatsPoor odds
- + DestructionPoor odds
- + StealthPoor odds
- + Open WorldPoor odds
Comparable games
Middle-earth™: Shadow of Mordor™ 2014 · $38M 
Darksiders II Deathinitive Edition 2015 · $15M 
Styx: Master of Shadows 2014 · $5.8M 
Styx: Shards of Darkness 2017 · $3.0M 
Prince of Persia: Warrior Within™ 2008 · $1.2M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Middle-earth™: Shadow of Mordor™ | older | $19.99 | 63,815 92% | 1.9M | $38M (exactly $38,269,856) | Monolith Productions |
| | Darksiders II Deathinitive Edition | older | $29.99 | 16,313 78% | 489k | $15M (exactly $14,676,806) | Gunfire Games, Vigil Games, THQ Nordic |
| | Styx: Master of Shadows | older | $19.99 | 9,654 83% | 290k | $5.8M (exactly $5,789,504) | Cyanide Studio |
| | Styx: Shards of Darkness | older | $19.99 | 5,078 84% | 152k | $3.0M (exactly $3,045,277) | Cyanide Studio |
| | Prince of Persia: Warrior Within™ | older | $9.99 | 3,933 82% | 118k | $1.2M (exactly $1,178,720) | Ubisoft |
 | Styx: Blades of Greed | $39.99 | 782 66% | 23k | $938k (exactly $938,165) | Cyanide Studio | |
 | Bloodthief | $19.99 | 1,017 95% | 31k | $610k (exactly $609,895) | Blargis | |
 | Kristala | $39.99 | 485 71% | 15k | $582k (exactly $581,854) | Astral Clocktower Studios | |
 | Shady Knight | $19.99 | 898 93% | 27k | $539k (exactly $538,531) | Alexey 'cptnsigh' | |
 | Idols of Ash | $2.99 | 3,352 97% | 101k | $301k (exactly $300,674) | Leafy Games | |
 | Brush Burial: Gutter World | $9.99 | 838 93% | 25k | $251k (exactly $251,149) | Knife Demon Software | |
 | Everdeep Aurora | $19.99 | 177 89% | 5.3k | $106k (exactly $106,147) | Nautilus Games | |
 | Dark Succubus | $6.99 | 171 77% | 5.1k | $36k (exactly $35,859) | ZC Game | |
 | Get Tilted! :) | $14.99 | 45 97% | 1.4k | $20k (exactly $20,236) | Timebat Studio | |
 | ZIX | · EA | $9.99 | 28 78% | 840 | $8.4k (exactly $8,392) | Hidden IO |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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