Should I ship a Dystopian RPG?
RPG + Dystopian
Of 144 developers who shipped a Dystopian RPG 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.. 433 more are announced, ×4.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $3.1k, ×5.0 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $1.7M, ×2815 the market median. Revenue is up 80% on the market; 433 games are announced against 92 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $449 (exactly $449) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.1k (exactly $3,146) |
| Top 25% | $49k (exactly $49,206) |
| Top 5% | $1.8M (exactly $1,767,793) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 144 |
| Released games | 395 |
| Announced | 433 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| 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 up 80% on the market, supply 75% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- RPG; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Action, Exploration
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 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 $24.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 86% positive over 64,305 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $450. 7 in 10 of the 64 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 433 games are announced against 92 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.7 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
RPG with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + IdlerFair
- + Boss RushFair
- + SportsFair
- + Combat RacingFair
- + Split ScreenFair
- + Precision PlatformerFair
- + SamuraiPoor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + 4XPoor odds
- + MinigamesPoor odds
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
Comparable games
BioShock Infinite 2013 · $99M 
RoboCop: Rogue City 2023 · $34M 
BioShock™ Remastered 2016 · $31M 
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided 2016 · $28M 
AI LIMIT 2025 · $24M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | BioShock Infinite | older | $29.99 | 109,718 93% | 3.3M | $99M (exactly $98,713,285) | Irrational Games, Virtual Programming (… (Irrational Games, Virtual Programming (Linux)) |
| | RoboCop: Rogue City | older | $39.99 | 28,196 86% | 846k | $34M (exactly $33,826,741) | Teyon |
| | BioShock™ Remastered | older | $19.99 | 52,500 83% | 1.6M | $31M (exactly $31,484,250) | 2K Boston, 2K Australia, Blind Squirrel… (2K Boston, 2K Australia, Blind Squirrel, Feral Interactive (Mac)) |
| | Deus Ex: Mankind Divided | older | $29.99 | 30,709 77% | 921k | $28M (exactly $27,628,887) | Eidos Montreal, Feral Interactive (Linu… (Eidos Montreal, Feral Interactive (Linux/Mac)) |
| | AI LIMIT | $34.99 | 22,833 92% | 685k | $24M (exactly $23,967,800) | Sense Games | |
 | Watch Dogs®: Legion | older | $59.99 | 11,891 56% | 357k | $21M (exactly $21,400,233) | Ubisoft Toronto |
 | Dishonored | older | $9.99 | 67,504 97% | 2.0M | $20M (exactly $20,230,949) | Arkane Studios |
 | The Outer Worlds 2 | $69.99 | 8,450 73% | 254k | $18M (exactly $17,742,465) | Obsidian Entertainment | |
 | The Ascent | older | $29.99 | 19,235 74% | 577k | $17M (exactly $17,305,730) | Neon Giant |
 | Deus Ex: Human Revolution - Director's Cut | older | $19.99 | 25,392 91% | 762k | $15M (exactly $15,227,582) | Eidos Montreal |
 | Quasimorph | $24.99 | 7,196 82% | 216k | $5.4M (exactly $5,394,841) | Magnum Scriptum | |
 | RoboCop: Rogue City - Unfinished Business | $29.99 | 3,931 84% | 118k | $3.5M (exactly $3,536,721) | Teyon | |
 | Pathologic 3 | $34.99 | 2,528 80% | 76k | $2.7M (exactly $2,653,642) | Ice-Pick Lodge | |
 | Peripeteia | · EA | $24.99 | 3,120 86% | 94k | $2.3M (exactly $2,339,064) | Ninth Exodus |
 | Cyber Manhunt 2: New World - The Hacking Simulator | $12.99 | 5,191 92% | 156k | $2.0M (exactly $2,022,933) | Aluba Van+ | |
 | Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector | $24.99 | 2,358 91% | 71k | $1.8M (exactly $1,767,793) | Jump Over The Age | |
 | ANEURISM IV | $9.99 | 5,686 75% | 171k | $1.7M (exactly $1,704,094) | Vellocet | |
 | Desert Stalker | · EA | $17.99 | 3,012 95% | 90k | $1.6M (exactly $1,625,576) | Zetan |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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