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Should I ship a Dynamic Narration Walking Simulator?
Walking Simulator + Dynamic Narration
Of 27 developers who shipped a Dynamic Narration Walking Simulator 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.. 50 more are announced, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.2k, ×2.5 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $160k, ×347 the market median. Revenue is up 485% on the market; 50 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $599 (exactly $599) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.2k (exactly $1,198) |
| Top 25% | $5.5k (exactly $5,539) |
| Top 5% | $165k (exactly $164,918) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 27 |
| Released games | 85 |
| Announced | 50 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| 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 485% on the market, supply 35% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 16%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Walking Simulator
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Dynamic Narration
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Walking Simulator, Dynamic Narration; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Exploration, Hidden Object, Adventure
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $13.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, 3D, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $13.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 89% positive over 4,156 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $600. 8 in 10 of the 15 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 50 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Walking Simulator with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + WarFair
- + RomanceFair
- + Escape RoomFair
- + ThrillerFair
- + MusicFair
- + SupernaturalFair
- + Psychological HorrorFair
- + PsychologicalFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Mystery DungeonFair
- + NoirFair
Comparable games
The Stanley Parable 2013 · $18M 
Observer: System Redux 2020 · $2.2M 
The Town of Light 2016 · $1.2M 
Event[0] 2016 · $869k 
RATSHAKER™ 2024 · $270k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | The Stanley Parable | older | $14.99 | 40,292 92% | 1.2M | $18M (exactly $18,119,312) | Galactic Cafe |
| | Observer: System Redux | older | $29.99 | 2,462 84% | 74k | $2.2M (exactly $2,215,061) | Bloober Team, Anshar Studios |
| | The Town of Light | older | $18.99 | 2,052 79% | 62k | $1.2M (exactly $1,169,024) | LKA |
| | Event[0] | older | $19.99 | 1,449 79% | 43k | $869k (exactly $868,965) | Ocelot Society |
| | RATSHAKER™ | $2.99 | 3,011 92% | 90k | $270k (exactly $270,087) | Sunscorched Studios | |
 | GlitchSPANKR | $19.99 | 275 96% | 8.3k | $165k (exactly $164,918) | Mahelyk, TheClassifiedX | |
 | Titan Chaser | older | $4.99 | 1,000 82% | 30k | $150k (exactly $149,700) | Stas Shostak |
 | Title_Pending | older | $9.99 | 422 95% | 13k | $126k (exactly $126,473) | DEVBEEF |
 | The Heilwald Loophole | older | $9.99 | 344 97% | 10k | $103k (exactly $103,097) | Jan Malitschek |
 | Please, Forgive Me | older | $6.99 | 264 65% | 7.9k | $55k (exactly $55,361) | REVVALUTION Studio |
 | Do Not Press The Button (Or You'll Delete The Multiverse) | $13.99 | 100 69% | 3.0k | $42k (exactly $41,970) | Theseus Games | |
 | Rehaunted | $7.99 | 172 66% | 5.2k | $41k (exactly $41,228) | Cauchemar | |
 | Evil Holiday | $4.99 | 208 80% | 6.2k | $31k (exactly $31,138) | REVVALUTION Studio | |
 | You’ve Got a Package | $4.99 | 188 77% | 5.6k | $28k (exactly $28,144) | REVVALUTION Studio | |
 | BABULYA | $3.99 | 106 85% | 3.2k | $13k (exactly $12,688) | REVVALUTION Studio | |
 | Project Looking Glass | $4.99 | 47 100% | 1.4k | $7.0k (exactly $7,036) | MORPH | |
 | Swaddle | $4.99 | 37 78% | 1.1k | $5.5k (exactly $5,539) | REVVALUTION Studio, Romooll | |
 | Granite Noir: The Social Experiment | $9.99 | 12 66% | 360 | $3.6k (exactly $3,596) | Black Potion |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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