Games › Driving › Driving + Sci-fi
Should I ship a Sci-fi Driving game?
Driving + Sci-fi
Of 62 developers who shipped a Sci-fi 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.. 140 more are announced, ×3.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $720, ×1.1 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $210; 1 in 20 cleared $130k, ×210 the market median. Revenue is down 10% on the market; 140 games are announced against 40 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $210 (exactly $210) |
|---|---|
| Median | $719 (exactly $719) |
| Top 25% | $4.7k (exactly $4,676) |
| Top 5% | $132k (exactly $131,650) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 62 |
| Released games | 199 |
| Announced | 140 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 10% on the market, supply 80% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 11%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
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 Action, Arcade, Racing
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $16.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Realistic, Third Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $16.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 82% positive over 3,728 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $210. Nearly all of the 24 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 140 games are announced against 40 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Driving with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Split ScreenFair
- + Psychological HorrorFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Survival HorrorFair
- + World War IIFair
- + MusicFair
- + ThrillerFair
- + Interactive FictionFair
- + LogicFair
- + Hidden ObjectFair
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
- + AutomationPoor odds
Comparable games
Pacific Drive 2024 · $19M 
Cloudpunk 2020 · $8.3M 
STAR WARS™: Battlefront Classic Collection 2024 · $7.5M 
Star Trucker 2024 · $3.7M 
GRIP: Combat Racing 2018 · $3.3M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Pacific Drive | older | $29.99 | 21,547 83% | 646k | $19M (exactly $19,385,836) | Ironwood Studios |
| | Cloudpunk | older | $19.99 | 13,788 87% | 414k | $8.3M (exactly $8,268,664) | ION LANDS |
| | STAR WARS™: Battlefront Classic Collection | older | $35.01 | 7,125 23% | 214k | $7.5M (exactly $7,483,388) | Aspyr |
| | Star Trucker | older | $24.99 | 4,928 77% | 148k | $3.7M (exactly $3,694,522) | Monster and Monster |
| | GRIP: Combat Racing | older | $29.99 | 3,669 86% | 110k | $3.3M (exactly $3,300,999) | Caged Element |
 | Redout: Enhanced Edition | older | $19.99 | 3,438 84% | 103k | $2.1M (exactly $2,061,769) | 34BigThings srl |
 | Spark the Electric Jester 3 | older | $24.99 | 1,913 96% | 57k | $1.4M (exactly $1,434,176) | Feperd Games |
 | BallisticNG | older | $14.99 | 2,285 95% | 69k | $1.0M (exactly $1,027,564) | Neognosis |
 | No Time | · EA older | $12.99 | 2,117 97% | 64k | $825k (exactly $824,995) | Lost in Days Studio |
 | Pacer | older | $39.99 | 576 72% | 17k | $691k (exactly $691,027) | R8 Games Ltd |
 | TerraTech Legion | $9.99 | 2,109 81% | 63k | $632k (exactly $632,067) | Payload Studios | |
 | Warhammer 40,000: Speed Freeks | $19.99 | 493 85% | 15k | $296k (exactly $295,652) | Caged Element | |
 | Exo Rally Championship | $24.99 | 374 90% | 11k | $280k (exactly $280,388) | Exbleative | |
 | XF Extreme Formula | $11.99 | 366 90% | 11k | $132k (exactly $131,650) | Feperd Games | |
 | BeastLink | · EA | $19.99 | 187 45% | 5.6k | $112k (exactly $112,144) | Grove Street Games |
 | Star Racer | $9.99 | 59 93% | 1.8k | $18k (exactly $17,682) | Whatnot Games | |
 | Moto Rush Reborn | $12.99 | 43 97% | 1.3k | $17k (exactly $16,757) | Baltoro Games | |
 | THE DARK SIDE OF CECLON | $14.99 | 29 86% | 870 | $13k (exactly $13,041) | SOLIDS Studio | |
 | Dart Racer | · EA | $9.99 | 41 90% | 1.2k | $12k (exactly $12,288) | LubSoft |
 | Project Hover | · EA | $9.99 | 27 88% | 810 | $8.1k (exactly $8,092) | Ulysses Graphics |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.