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Should I ship a Faith Simulation game?
Simulation + Faith
Of 46 developers who shipped a Faith Simulation 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.. 66 more are announced, ×2.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.2k, ×1.9 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $240; 1 in 20 cleared $150k, ×251 the market median. Revenue is up 200% on the market; 66 games are announced against 23 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $239 (exactly $239) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.2k (exactly $1,188) |
| Top 25% | $9.9k (exactly $9,890) |
| Top 5% | $158k (exactly $157,941) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 46 |
| Released games | 105 |
| Announced | 66 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $3.99 |
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 200% on the market, supply as many developers as 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.
- Simulation
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Faith
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Simulation; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Resource Management, Choices Matter, Life Sim
- Price point
- $3.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, 2D, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $3.99.
The top 10 games average 86% positive over 3,692 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $240. 9 in 10 of the 29 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 66 games are announced against 23 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Simulation with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Escape RoomStrong odds
- + World War IFair
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + PinballFair
- + Female ProtagonistFair
- + BirdsFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + MusicFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + ProgrammingFair
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Touhou Mystia's Izakaya | older | $5.99 | 29,517 98% | 886k | $5.3M (exactly $5,304,205) | 二色幽紫蝶, Re零同人社 |
| | Honey, I Joined a Cult | older | $25.99 | 1,380 73% | 41k | $1.1M (exactly $1,075,986) | Sole Survivor Games |
| | I Am Jesus Christ | $19.99 | 1,486 87% | 45k | $891k (exactly $891,154) | Space Boat Studios | |
| | Touhou Ibunseki - Ayaria Dawn: ReCreation | older | $18.99 | 1,384 84% | 42k | $788k (exactly $788,465) | Team L.U.R.Id Glow |
| | Fantasy Maiden Wars - DREAM OF THE STRAY DREAMER - | $34.99 | 582 98% | 17k | $611k (exactly $610,925) | さんぼん堂 | |
| | Sinner Maker | · EA | $9.66 | 545 91% | 16k | $158k (exactly $157,941) | Pantokrator |
| | The Unholy Priest | $9.99 | 370 72% | 11k | $111k (exactly $110,889) | Grejuva | |
| | Sisters in Sin 🔞 | $14.99 | 165 75% | 5.0k | $74k (exactly $74,200) | Lewd Star | |
| | Holy Whore Emily | $11.99 | 182 75% | 5.5k | $65k (exactly $65,465) | Asami | |
| | Herbals tycoon | · EA | $9.99 | 123 76% | 3.7k | $37k (exactly $36,863) | Orange Paper Studio |
| | Touhou Farming ~ Minoriko's Homestead Harvest | · EA | $11.99 | 67 95% | 2.0k | $24k (exactly $24,100) | Studio Hexeye |
| | Religion inc. | $4.99 | 128 72% | 3.8k | $19k (exactly $19,162) | GameFirst | |
| | The people of Sea, Sun & Salt | $9.99 | 44 100% | 1.3k | $13k (exactly $13,187) | Emerick Gibson |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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