Games › Driving › Driving + Thriller
Should I ship a Thriller Driving game?
Driving + Thriller
Only 18 developers shipped a Thriller Driving 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, Fears to Fathom® - Scratch Creek, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 21 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.0k, ×3.1 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $1.1k. Revenue is up 245% on the market; 21 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.1k (exactly $1,077) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.0k (exactly $1,973) |
| Top 25% | $6.3k (exactly $6,294) |
| Top 5% | $1.7M (exactly $1,711,698) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 18 |
| Released games | 35 |
| Announced | 21 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| 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 up 245% on the market, supply 55% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 6%, 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; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration, Simulation
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, First-Person, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 75% positive over 7,544 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.1k. All of the 8 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 21 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.
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
- + Interactive FictionFair
- + LogicFair
- + Hidden ObjectFair
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
- + AutomationPoor odds
- + TrainsPoor odds
Comparable games
Fears to Fathom - Ironbark Lookout 2023 · $1.8M 
Fears to Fathom® - Scratch Creek 2026 · $1.7M 
Fears to Fathom - Norwood Hitchhike 2022 · $484k 
Tornado: Research and Rescue 2023 · EA · $139k 
Blind Drive 2021 · $105k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Fears to Fathom - Ironbark Lookout | older | $9.99 | 6,081 92% | 182k | $1.8M (exactly $1,822,476) | Rayll Studios |
| | Fears to Fathom® - Scratch Creek | $7.99 | 7,141 75% | 214k | $1.7M (exactly $1,711,698) | Rayll | |
| | Fears to Fathom - Norwood Hitchhike | older | $4.99 | 3,230 87% | 97k | $484k (exactly $483,531) | Rayll |
| | Tornado: Research and Rescue | · EA older | $12.99 | 356 85% | 11k | $139k (exactly $138,733) | Sam Kennedy |
| | Blind Drive | older | $9.99 | 352 96% | 11k | $105k (exactly $105,494) | Lo-Fi People |
 | Night Bus | older | $4.99 | 260 87% | 7.8k | $39k (exactly $38,922) | Liquid Static Studio |
 | Backseat | $9.99 | 85 71% | 2.6k | $25k (exactly $25,474) | HOGO Games | |
 | Nitroglycerine! | $4.99 | 146 86% | 4.4k | $22k (exactly $21,856) | Avoidance | |
 | Endless Suburbia | older | $4.99 | 91 64% | 2.7k | $14k (exactly $13,623) | Horrid Vision LLC |
 | Abducted: The Night Hunters | · EA older | $14.99 | 20 85% | 600 | $9.0k (exactly $8,994) | .Cat |
 | Mystic Rest Stop | $3.99 | 71 60% | 2.1k | $8.5k (exactly $8,499) | Catire Games Studio | |
 | CyberpunkXXX | $9.99 | 21 33% | 630 | $6.3k (exactly $6,294) | GAMERFLEX Studios | |
 | Into the End (of the World) | · EA | $14.99 | 9 55% | 270 | $4.0k (exactly $4,047) | RabbiX Games |
 | Last mile | $2.99 | 27 51% | 810 | $2.4k (exactly $2,422) | Underdogs | |
 | Right Turn | $4.99 | 14 85% | 420 | $2.1k (exactly $2,096) | Grinding Crow | |
 | The Bunker | $2.99 | 22 90% | 660 | $2.0k (exactly $1,973) | Cyber752 | |
 | SERPENT AT THE VERNISSAGE | $6.99 | 8 100% | 240 | $1.7k (exactly $1,678) | a trip by daniel bock |
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.