Games › Driving › Driving + Psychological Horror
Should I ship a Psychological-Horror Driving game?
Driving + Psychological Horror
Of 35 developers who shipped a Psychological-Horror Driving 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.. 43 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $5.9k, ×9.4 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $2.0k. Revenue is up 30% on the market; 43 games are announced against 23 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $2.0k (exactly $1,973) |
|---|---|
| Median | $5.9k (exactly $5,930) |
| Top 25% | $25k (exactly $25,474) |
| Top 5% | $17M (exactly $17,433,860) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 35 |
| Released games | 80 |
| Announced | 43 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| 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 30% on the market, supply 75% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 13%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Driving
- effort 6 / 10 · low · vehicle handling feel is tuned by hand
- Psychological Horror
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Driving; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Adventure, Exploration
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, Atmospheric, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 92% positive over 212,731 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $2.0k. 6 in 10 of the 17 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 43 games are announced against 23 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Driving with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Split ScreenFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Survival HorrorFair
- + World War IIFair
- + MusicFair
- + ThrillerFair
- + Interactive FictionFair
- + LogicFair
- + Hidden ObjectFair
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
- + AutomationPoor odds
- + TrainsPoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | My Summer Car | $14.99 | 108,503 94% | 3.3M | $49M (exactly $48,793,799) | Amistech Games | |
| | City Car Driving | older | $24.99 | 33,612 82% | 1.0M | $25M (exactly $25,198,916) | Forward Development, Ltd. |
| | The Long Drive | · EA older | $15.99 | 50,184 88% | 1.5M | $24M (exactly $24,073,265) | Genesz |
| | RV There Yet? | $7.99 | 72,732 90% | 2.2M | $17M (exactly $17,433,860) | Nuggets Entertainment | |
| | My Winter Car | · EA | $14.99 | 18,614 94% | 558k | $8.4M (exactly $8,370,716) | Amistech Games |
| | HROT | older | $19.99 | 5,299 96% | 159k | $3.2M (exactly $3,177,810) | Spytihněv |
| | Train Sim World® 3 | older | $24.99 | 3,953 79% | 119k | $3.0M (exactly $2,963,564) | Dovetail Games |
| | Fears to Fathom - Ironbark Lookout | older | $9.99 | 6,081 92% | 182k | $1.8M (exactly $1,822,476) | Rayll Studios |
| | FlatOut 4: Total Insanity | older | $29.99 | 1,938 53% | 58k | $1.7M (exactly $1,743,619) | Kylotonn |
| | Fears to Fathom® - Scratch Creek | $7.99 | 7,141 75% | 214k | $1.7M (exactly $1,711,698) | Rayll | |
| | MOLE | $12.99 | 3,534 97% | 106k | $1.4M (exactly $1,377,200) | Off Black Creations | |
| | City Car Driving 2.0 | · EA | $29.99 | 1,198 60% | 36k | $1.1M (exactly $1,077,841) | Forward Development, Ltd. |
| | Brno Transit | $8.99 | 589 85% | 18k | $159k (exactly $158,853) | Spytihněv | |
| | Driving Is Hard | $6.99 | 200 79% | 6.0k | $42k (exactly $41,940) | Elegant Horse Studios | |
| | True Nightmare - Roadside Сafe | $7.99 | 135 80% | 4.1k | $32k (exactly $32,360) | Frost Fox Studios | |
| | Backseat | $9.99 | 85 71% | 2.6k | $25k (exactly $25,474) | HOGO Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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