Games › Tactical › Tactical + Detective
Should I ship a Detective Tactical game?
Tactical + Detective
Of 23 developers who shipped a Detective Tactical 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, ×2.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $630, level with the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $90; 1 in 20 cleared $230k, ×370 the market median. Revenue is up 710% on the market; 37 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $90 (exactly $90) |
|---|---|
| Median | $629 (exactly $629) |
| Top 25% | $5.3k (exactly $5,273) |
| Top 5% | $233k (exactly $232,567) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 23 |
| Released games | 57 |
| Announced | 37 |
| Effort | 6 / 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 up 710% on the market, supply 130% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 7%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Tactical; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Investigation, Co-op
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Dark, First-Person, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 68% positive over 1,537 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $90. All of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 37 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Tactical with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Football (American)Strong odds
- + Mystery DungeonStrong odds
- + Dating SimFair
- + 6DOFFair
- + Word GameFair
- + TypingFair
- + DwarvesFair
- + Traditional RoguelikeFair
- + Dynamic NarrationFair
- + Farming SimFair
- + SolitaireFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
Comparable games
Phasmophobia 2020 · EA · $410M 
Demonologist 2023 · $11M 
This Is the Police 2 2018 · $2.4M 
Perfect Heist 2 2021 · $1.1M 
Responding 2026 · EA · $307k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Phasmophobia | · EA older | $19.99 | 684,009 94% | 21M | $410M (exactly $410,200,197) | Kinetic Games |
| | Demonologist | older | $19.99 | 18,886 85% | 567k | $11M (exactly $11,325,934) | Clock Wizard Games |
| | This Is the Police 2 | older | $14.99 | 5,330 77% | 160k | $2.4M (exactly $2,396,901) | Weappy Studio |
| | Perfect Heist 2 | older | $9.99 | 3,711 94% | 111k | $1.1M (exactly $1,112,187) | yeswecamp |
| | Responding | · EA | $24.99 | 409 45% | 12k | $307k (exactly $306,627) | Visionary Studios |
 | Project Unknown | $9.99 | 776 81% | 23k | $233k (exactly $232,567) | PsychoRavens | |
 | Company of Crime | older | $19.99 | 143 51% | 4.3k | $86k (exactly $85,757) | Resistance Games |
 | Budget Cuts Ultimate | older | $19.99 | 110 88% | 3.3k | $66k (exactly $65,967) | Neat Corporation |
 | 2 Fights in 2 Tight Spaces | · EA | $12.99 | 115 84% | 3.5k | $45k (exactly $44,816) | Ground Shatter |
 | Agarta | older | $2.99 | 498 71% | 15k | $45k (exactly $44,671) | FF Digital |
 | Deadly Quiet | $9.75 | 89 55% | 2.7k | $26k (exactly $26,032) | Tarba Paul Cornel, Abdul Rafy | |
 | Bounty Trail | $6.99 | 84 52% | 2.5k | $18k (exactly $17,615) | September Games | |
 | What Is The Ghost | · EA | $7.99 | 22 95% | 660 | $5.3k (exactly $5,273) | Deda Games |
 | TradingLife | · EA | $11.99 | 10 100% | 300 | $3.6k (exactly $3,597) | Fun(ctor) Studio |
 | Red Core Division | · EA | $4.99 | 13 30% | 390 | $1.9k (exactly $1,946) | YBT |
 | Bomb Squad | $14.99 | 4 100% | 120 | $1.8k (exactly $1,799) | International Headquarters | |
 | Mole or Not | · EA | $2.99 | 15 53% | 450 | $1.3k (exactly $1,346) | EY GAMES |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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