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Should I ship a Dark-Fantasy Walking Simulator?
Walking Simulator + Dark Fantasy
Of 66 developers who shipped a Dark-Fantasy 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.. 83 more are announced.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.8k, ×2.8 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $540; 1 in 20 cleared $140k, ×233 the market median. Revenue is down 60% on the market; 83 games are announced against 43 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $537 (exactly $537) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.8k (exactly $1,752) |
| Top 25% | $6.3k (exactly $6,267) |
| Top 5% | $146k (exactly $146,457) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 66 |
| Released games | 151 |
| Announced | 83 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $5.99 |
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 60% on the market, supply 85% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 18%, 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
- Dark Fantasy
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Walking Simulator; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration, Puzzle
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
- Art
- 7 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, 3D, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 85% positive over 6,823 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $540. 8 in 10 of the 30 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 83 games are announced against 43 developers who shipped in the last year.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | A Plague Tale: Innocence | older | $39.99 | 63,166 93% | 1.9M | $76M (exactly $75,780,250) | Asobo Studio |
| | Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice | older | $29.99 | 66,788 90% | 2.0M | $60M (exactly $60,089,164) | Ninja Theory |
| | Hellblade II: Senua’s Saga | older | $49.99 | 9,381 86% | 281k | $14M (exactly $14,068,686) | Ninja Theory |
| | The Midnight Walk | $29.99 | 2,682 92% | 80k | $2.4M (exactly $2,412,995) | MoonHood | |
| | Lust for Darkness | older | $14.99 | 3,980 68% | 119k | $1.8M (exactly $1,789,806) | Movie Games Lunarium |
| | Amenti | $6.99 | 2,184 80% | 66k | $458k (exactly $457,985) | Darkphobia Games | |
| | Inner Chains | older | $19.99 | 355 48% | 11k | $213k (exactly $212,893) | Telepaths Tree |
| | [Chilla's Art] Night Security | 夜間警備 | older | $7.99 | 874 88% | 26k | $209k (exactly $209,498) | Chilla's Art |
| | Goblin Dungeons | $17.99 | 291 83% | 8.7k | $157k (exactly $157,053) | Loolust | |
| | Cursed Digicam | 呪われたデジカメ | $7.99 | 611 78% | 18k | $146k (exactly $146,457) | Chilla's Art | |
| | Gnomes and Knights | $4.99 | 372 77% | 11k | $56k (exactly $55,688) | Terletski Games | |
| | The Crimson Maid | $14.99 | 104 87% | 3.1k | $47k (exactly $46,769) | GrimTalin, Darkania Works | |
| | Ire: A Prologue | $19.99 | 77 61% | 2.3k | $46k (exactly $46,177) | ProbablyMonsters | |
| | Greed Stays Home | $4.99 | 241 87% | 7.2k | $36k (exactly $36,078) | Yellow Basement Games | |
| | Dark Succubus | $6.99 | 171 77% | 5.1k | $36k (exactly $35,859) | ZC Game | |
| | Ember Seeker | $7.99 | 90 91% | 2.7k | $22k (exactly $21,573) | Lehti E. |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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