Do I ship it?

GamesDrivingDriving + Psychological Horror

Specimen · observed

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.

Deciding numbers: median 9.4 times the market baseline, revenue up 30% on the market, 43 announced, ×1.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Driving + Psychological Horror
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 35
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $193k → $10k → $5.9k → $24k → $16k → $10k (still earning) → $898 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Driving + Psychological Horror: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 35
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.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

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

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

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
Plate 4 · demand

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.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $2.0k, median $5.9k, 1 in 4 over $25k, 1 in 20 over $17M.

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.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Driving with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Split ScreenFair54 devs · median $6.0k · 56 announced
  2. + IdlerFair16 devs · median $5.5k · 18 announced
  3. + Survival HorrorFair20 devs · median $4.9k · 25 announced
  4. + World War IIFair8 devs · median $4.2k · 9 announced
  5. + MusicFair8 devs · median $2.4k · 10 announced
  6. + ThrillerFair18 devs · median $2.0k · 21 announced
  7. + Interactive FictionFair12 devs · median $1.2k · 13 announced
  8. + LogicFair30 devs · median $958 · 29 announced
  9. + Hidden ObjectFair26 devs · median $897 · 23 announced
  10. + Online Co-OpPoor odds82 devs · median $48k · 157 announced
  11. + AutomationPoor odds24 devs · median $44k · 36 announced
  12. + TrainsPoor odds24 devs · median $39k · 29 announced

All 130 pairs on the Driving page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

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.