Do I ship it?

GamesQuick-Time EventsQuick-Time Events + Detective

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Detective Quick-Time Events game?

Quick-Time Events + Detective

Only 12 developers shipped a Detective Quick-Time Events 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, The Occultist, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 14 more are announced.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $900, ×1.9 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $120; 1 in 20 cleared $210k, ×462 the market median. Revenue is down 40% on the market; 14 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.9 times the market baseline, revenue down 40% on the market, 14 announced, ×2.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Quick-Time Events + Detective
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 12

not enough cohorts to draw

Outcomes for Quick-Time Events + Detective: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 12
Bottom 30% $120 (exactly $120)
Median $898 (exactly $898)
Top 25% $39k (exactly $39,398)
Top 5% $220k (exactly $219,527)
Developers, 2 yr 12
Released games 30
Announced 14
Effort 4 / 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 40% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 7%, 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.

Quick-Time Events
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
Detective
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Quick-Time Events
Price point
$4.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 9 games average 84% positive over 808 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $120, median $900, 1 in 4 over $39k, 1 in 20 over $210k.

3 in 10 developers made under $120. All of the 5 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 14 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Quick-Time Events with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Dating SimFair17 devs · median $15k · 16 announced
  2. + Shoot 'Em UpFair8 devs · median $1.2k · 12 announced
  3. + Life SimFair28 devs · median $958 · 33 announced
  4. + SimulationFair116 devs · median $748 · 133 announced
  5. + CollectathonFair15 devs · median $720 · 18 announced
  6. + Resource ManagementFair46 devs · median $719 · 55 announced
  7. + FlightFair9 devs · median $657 · 9 announced
  8. + AliensFair12 devs · median $628 · 14 announced
  9. + SpaceFair16 devs · median $597 · 24 announced
  10. + Bullet TimeLong shot10 devs · median $390 · 15 announced
  11. + DemonsLong shot17 devs · median $300 · 22 announced
  12. + Bullet HellLong shot27 devs · median $239 · 25 announced

All 110 pairs on the Quick-Time Events page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Heavy Rain older $19.99 26,503 85% 795k $16M (exactly $15,893,849) Quantic Dream
The Wolf Among Us older $14.99 32,494 97% 975k $15M (exactly $14,612,552) Telltale
Batman - The Telltale Series older $14.99 15,060 87% 452k $6.8M (exactly $6,772,482) Telltale
Batman: The Enemy Within - The Telltale Series older $14.99 8,877 92% 266k $4.0M (exactly $3,991,987) Telltale
Fahrenheit: Indigo Prophecy Remastered older $9.99 6,743 79% 202k $2.0M (exactly $2,020,877) Quantic Dream, Aspyr Media (remastered… (Quantic Dream, Aspyr Media (remastered version))
D4: Dark Dreams Don’t Die -Season One- older $14.99 1,724 80% 52k $775k (exactly $775,283) Access Games
Accident older $14.99 1,462 76% 44k $657k (exactly $657,461) Duality Games, Spirit Games Studio
The Occultist $29.99 244 74% 7.3k $220k (exactly $219,527) DALOAR
Blues and Bullets older $4.99 1,108 60% 33k $166k (exactly $165,868) A Crowd of Monsters
KunKunNest $3.99 434 95% 13k $52k (exactly $51,950) JNTM, KunKunRoom, 鸡你太美
Neon Blood $17.99 73 60% 2.2k $39k (exactly $39,398) ChaoticBrain Studios
The Power of Fish $4.99 25 96% 750 $3.7k (exactly $3,742) Strangefish Studios
Amber Alert TOTAL VR $5.99 19 47% 570 $3.4k (exactly $3,414) MEATBREAD, VirtualVillain
The Locked Room $4.99 6 100% 180 $898 (exactly $898) Alexey Sudarikov
Unforgivable $2.99 5 60% 150 $449 (exactly $449) Mario Leal
Silent Ward: Forever Lost $9.99 1 0% 30 $300 (exactly $300) 月下辉煌
Dark Manor $3.99 1 100% 30 $120 (exactly $120) GearheadFoxGames
BETRAYED · EA $9.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) Almost Good Games

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