Games › Interactive Fiction › Interactive Fiction + Dystopian
Should I ship a Dystopian Interactive Fiction?
Interactive Fiction + Dystopian
Of 94 developers who shipped a Dystopian Interactive Fiction 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.. 225 more are announced, ×4.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.7k, ×3.6 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $73k, ×155 the market median. Revenue is down 10% on the market; 225 games are announced against 55 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $450 (exactly $450) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.7k (exactly $1,708) |
| Top 25% | $9.3k (exactly $9,348) |
| Top 5% | $74k (exactly $73,738) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 94 |
| Released games | 245 |
| Announced | 225 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 40% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 23%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Interactive Fiction
- effort 1 / 10 · high · prose plus a state machine
- Dystopian
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Interactive Fiction; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Multiple Endings, Choices Matter
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, Atmospheric, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 89% positive over 7,451 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $450. 9 in 10 of the 53 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 225 games are announced against 55 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Interactive Fiction with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVFair
- + Match 3Fair
- + VampiresFair
- + SportsFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + PiratesFair
- + DrivingFair
- + DiplomacyFair
- + Perma DeathFair
- + Board GameFair
- + SnowFair
- + BuildingFair
Comparable games
The Walking Dead: The Telltale Definitive Series 2020 · $55M 
Road 96 🛣️ 2021 · $13M 
Not For Broadcast 2022 · $7.7M 
Citizen Sleeper 2022 · $5.0M 
Nobody Wants to Die 2024 · $4.4M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | The Walking Dead: The Telltale Definitive Series | older | $49.99 | 36,594 96% | 1.1M | $55M (exactly $54,880,022) | Skybound Games |
| | Road 96 🛣️ | older | $19.96 | 22,118 91% | 664k | $13M (exactly $13,244,258) | Digixart |
| | Not For Broadcast | older | $24.99 | 10,337 94% | 310k | $7.7M (exactly $7,749,649) | NotGames |
| | Citizen Sleeper | older | $19.99 | 8,271 92% | 248k | $5.0M (exactly $4,960,119) | Jump Over The Age |
| | Nobody Wants to Die | older | $24.99 | 5,818 83% | 175k | $4.4M (exactly $4,361,755) | Critical Hit Games |
 | KARMA: The Dark World | $24.99 | 3,963 90% | 119k | $3.0M (exactly $2,971,061) | POLLARD STUDIO LLC | |
 | Orwell: Keeping an Eye On You | older | $9.99 | 8,936 90% | 268k | $2.7M (exactly $2,678,119) | Osmotic Studios |
 | Shelter 2 | older | $24.99 | 3,378 87% | 101k | $2.5M (exactly $2,532,487) | Might and Delight |
 | Tails Noir | older | $24.99 | 2,592 66% | 78k | $1.9M (exactly $1,943,222) | Eggnut |
 | Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector | $24.99 | 2,358 91% | 71k | $1.8M (exactly $1,767,793) | Jump Over The Age | |
 | SLEEP AWAKE | $29.99 | 164 71% | 4.9k | $148k (exactly $147,551) | EYES OUT, LLC. | |
 | Duskpunk | $19.99 | 171 91% | 5.1k | $103k (exactly $102,549) | Clockwork Bird, James Patton | |
 | The World Well: Blood of Caro | $11.99 | 205 85% | 6.2k | $74k (exactly $73,738) | Nimparth | |
 | Vampire Syndicate: Gangs of MoonFall | · EA | $19.99 | 111 71% | 3.3k | $67k (exactly $66,567) | A Memory of Eternity |
 | Moves Of The Diamond Hand | · EA | $19.99 | 105 100% | 3.2k | $63k (exactly $62,968) | Cosmo D Studios |
 | UncleOffice:uncle Dating Simulator | $15.99 | 92 61% | 2.8k | $44k (exactly $44,132) | GameUncle | |
 | Decade | $9.99 | 129 96% | 3.9k | $39k (exactly $38,661) | Last Piscean | |
 | 60 Minutes to Extinction: Escape Room | $7.99 | 153 82% | 4.6k | $37k (exactly $36,674) | mc2games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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