Games › Exploration › Exploration + LGBTQ+
Should I ship an LGBTQ+ Exploration game?
Exploration + LGBTQ+
Of 161 developers who shipped an LGBTQ+ Exploration 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.. 312 more are announced, ×3.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $9.8k, ×21 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $2.2k; 1 in 20 cleared $670k, ×1423 the market median. Revenue is down 30% on the market; 312 games are announced against 88 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $2.2k (exactly $2,153) |
|---|---|
| Median | $9.8k (exactly $9,777) |
| Top 25% | $67k (exactly $67,166) |
| Top 5% | $676k (exactly $675,862) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 161 |
| Released games | 478 |
| Announced | 312 |
| Effort | 4 / 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 down 30% on the market, supply 10% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 15%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Exploration
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- LGBTQ+
- effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Exploration; 3 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, RPG, Action
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, 3D, Cute
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 65,774 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $2.2k. 7 in 10 of the 108 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 312 games are announced against 88 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Exploration with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Roguelike DeckbuilderFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + SpaceshipsFair
- + Escape RoomFair
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
- + WuxiaPoor odds
- + Extraction ShooterPoor odds
- + Martial ArtsPoor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + MMORPGPoor odds
- + FMVPoor odds
- + FarmingPoor odds
Comparable games
Cyberpunk 2077 2020 · $1.6B 
Celeste 2018 · $79M 
Marvel's Spider-Man 2 2025 · $60M 
Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales 2022 · $59M 
Horizon Forbidden West™ Complete Edition 2024 · $37M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Cyberpunk 2077 | older | $59.99 | 883,400 87% | 27M | $1.6B (exactly $1,589,854,980) | CD PROJEKT RED |
| | Celeste | older | $19.99 | 132,072 97% | 4.0M | $79M (exactly $79,203,578) | Maddy Makes Games Inc., Extremely OK Ga… (Maddy Makes Games Inc., Extremely OK Games, Ltd.) |
| | Marvel's Spider-Man 2 | $59.99 | 33,433 83% | 1.0M | $60M (exactly $60,169,370) | Insomniac Games, Nixxes Software | |
| | Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales | older | $49.99 | 39,234 93% | 1.2M | $59M (exactly $58,839,230) | Insomniac Games, Nixxes Software |
| | Horizon Forbidden West™ Complete Edition | older | $59.99 | 20,438 87% | 613k | $37M (exactly $36,782,269) | Guerrilla, Nixxes Software |
 | Indiana Jones and the Great Circle | $69.99 | 13,058 89% | 392k | $27M (exactly $27,417,883) | MachineGames | |
 | Forspoken | older | $69.99 | 5,384 64% | 162k | $11M (exactly $11,304,785) | Square Enix |
 | Bugsnax | older | $24.99 | 8,673 97% | 260k | $6.5M (exactly $6,502,148) | Young Horses |
 | Gone Home | older | $14.99 | 13,619 77% | 409k | $6.1M (exactly $6,124,464) | Fullbright |
 | Prince of Persia The Lost Crown | older | $29.99 | 6,754 84% | 203k | $6.1M (exactly $6,076,574) | Ubisoft Montpellier |
 | UNBEATABLE | $27.99 | 6,552 92% | 197k | $5.5M (exactly $5,501,714) | D-CELL GAMES | |
 | Train Sim World® 6 | $49.99 | 2,485 78% | 75k | $3.7M (exactly $3,726,754) | Dovetail Games | |
 | Promise Mascot Agency | $24.99 | 2,569 96% | 77k | $1.9M (exactly $1,925,979) | Kaizen Game Works | |
 | Tales of Seikyu | $24.99 | 2,179 83% | 65k | $1.6M (exactly $1,633,596) | ACE Entertainment | |
 | GreedFall: The Dying World | $49.99 | 1,027 61% | 31k | $1.5M (exactly $1,540,192) | Spiders | |
 | Eternal Strands | $29.99 | 1,661 87% | 50k | $1.5M (exactly $1,494,402) | Yellow Brick Games | |
 | Third Crisis: Neon Nights | · EA | $19.99 | 1,127 92% | 34k | $676k (exactly $675,862) | Anduo Games |
 | Funi Raccoon Game | $11.99 | 1,683 99% | 50k | $605k (exactly $605,375) | Crayon, Kit |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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