Games › Escape Room › Escape Room + Sci-fi
Should I ship a Sci-fi Escape Room game?
Escape Room + Sci-fi
Of 26 developers who shipped a Sci-fi Escape Room 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.. 28 more are announced, ×2.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.5k, ×5.3 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $200k, ×431 the market median. Revenue is up 180% on the market; 28 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $359 (exactly $359) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.5k (exactly $2,507) |
| Top 25% | $20k (exactly $19,750) |
| Top 5% | $204k (exactly $204,498) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 26 |
| Released games | 75 |
| Announced | 28 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 180% on the market, supply 20% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 5%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Escape Room
- effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band
- Sci-fi
- 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
- Escape Room; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration, Puzzle
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 80% positive over 2,625 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $360. 8 in 10 of the 16 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 28 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Escape Room with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + SimulationStrong odds
- + Online Co-OpFair
- + Psychological HorrorFair
- + Choices MatterFair
- + SupernaturalFair
- + Walking SimulatorFair
- + MysteryFair
- + Visual NovelFair
- + Female ProtagonistFair
- + HorrorFair
- + Multiple EndingsFair
- + AdventureFair
Comparable games
Zero Escape: The Nonary Games 2017 · $6.3M 
Deponia 2012 · $3.1M 
Deponia: The Complete Journey 2014 · $3.0M 
Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma 2016 · $2.8M 
Broken Age 2014 · $2.1M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Zero Escape: The Nonary Games | older | $29.99 | 7,007 92% | 210k | $6.3M (exactly $6,304,198) | Spike Chunsoft Co., Ltd. |
| | Deponia | older | $9.99 | 10,455 87% | 314k | $3.1M (exactly $3,133,364) | Daedalic Entertainment |
| | Deponia: The Complete Journey | older | $29.99 | 3,375 85% | 101k | $3.0M (exactly $3,036,488) | Daedalic Entertainment |
| | Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma | older | $19.99 | 4,669 81% | 140k | $2.8M (exactly $2,799,999) | Spike Chunsoft Co., Ltd. |
| | Broken Age | older | $14.99 | 4,622 83% | 139k | $2.1M (exactly $2,078,513) | Double Fine Productions |
 | Syberia | older | $12.99 | 3,919 89% | 118k | $1.5M (exactly $1,527,234) | Microids |
 | Chaos on Deponia | older | $19.99 | 2,538 90% | 76k | $1.5M (exactly $1,522,039) | Daedalic Entertainment |
 | Dreamfall: The Longest Journey | older | $19.99 | 1,086 83% | 33k | $651k (exactly $651,274) | Funcom |
 | The Longest Journey | older | $9.99 | 1,884 89% | 57k | $565k (exactly $564,635) | Funcom |
 | The Inheritance of Crimson Manor | older | $19.99 | 907 87% | 27k | $544k (exactly $543,928) | MediaCity Games |
 | Together: Moon Escape | $9.99 | 868 90% | 26k | $260k (exactly $260,140) | CarlosGameDev | |
 | Creepy Redneck Dinosaur Mansion 3 | $19.99 | 341 96% | 10k | $204k (exactly $204,498) | Strange Scaffold | |
 | Backrooms Media | $7.99 | 546 39% | 16k | $131k (exactly $130,876) | NPK Games | |
 | Looking For Fael | $19.99 | 165 98% | 5.0k | $99k (exactly $98,950) | Swing Swing Submarine, La Poule Noire,… (Swing Swing Submarine, La Poule Noire, ARTE France) | |
 | Pyramids and Aliens: Escape Room | $12.99 | 191 81% | 5.7k | $74k (exactly $74,433) | mc2games | |
 | 60 Minutes to Extinction: Escape Room | $7.99 | 153 82% | 4.6k | $37k (exactly $36,674) | mc2games | |
 | no signal | $15.00 | 69 98% | 2.1k | $31k (exactly $31,050) | exodrifter | |
 | holo8 | $3.99 | 165 90% | 5.0k | $20k (exactly $19,750) | frog blend | |
 | Take Notes | $6.99 | 93 96% | 2.8k | $20k (exactly $19,502) | Stoneware Game Studio | |
 | Shrink Rooms | $14.99 | 34 91% | 1.0k | $15k (exactly $15,290) | Mat-Rix, Pone Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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