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Should I ship a Fantasy Stealth game?
Stealth + Fantasy
Of 69 developers who shipped a Fantasy Stealth 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.. 175 more are announced, ×5.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $900, ×1.4 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $930k, ×1494 the market median. Revenue is down 15% on the market; 175 games are announced against 35 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $150 (exactly $150) |
|---|---|
| Median | $899 (exactly $899) |
| Top 25% | $8.0k (exactly $7,969) |
| Top 5% | $938k (exactly $938,165) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 69 |
| Released games | 259 |
| Announced | 175 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $5.99 |
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 15% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 16%, 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
- Stealth; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Exploration, Adventure, Action
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, First-Person, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 83% positive over 28,058 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 43 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 175 games are announced against 35 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.0 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Stealth with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + JRPGFair
- + World War IIPoor odds
- + LGBTQ+Poor odds
- + Turn-Based CombatPoor odds
- + WargamePoor odds
- + DinosaursPoor odds
- + Gun CustomizationPoor odds
- + Base BuildingPoor odds
- + Cold WarPoor odds
- + HistoricalPoor odds
- + MilitaryPoor odds
- + WarPoor odds
Comparable games
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition 2016 · $263M 
Middle-earth™: Shadow of War™ 2017 · $132M 
Middle-earth™: Shadow of Mordor™ 2014 · $38M 
Dishonored 2012 · $20M 
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR 2018 · $16M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition | older | $39.99 | 219,271 94% | 6.6M | $263M (exactly $263,059,419) | Bethesda Game Studios |
| | Middle-earth™: Shadow of War™ | older | $49.99 | 87,777 88% | 2.6M | $132M (exactly $131,639,167) | Monolith Productions |
| | Middle-earth™: Shadow of Mordor™ | older | $19.99 | 63,815 92% | 1.9M | $38M (exactly $38,269,856) | Monolith Productions |
| | Dishonored | older | $9.99 | 67,504 97% | 2.0M | $20M (exactly $20,230,949) | Arkane Studios |
| | The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR | older | $59.99 | 9,129 74% | 274k | $16M (exactly $16,429,461) | Bethesda Game Studios |
 | Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden | older | $34.99 | 13,305 89% | 399k | $14M (exactly $13,966,258) | The Bearded Ladies |
 | Thief | older | $19.99 | 17,389 75% | 522k | $10M (exactly $10,428,183) | Eidos-Montréal, Feral Interactive (Mac) |
 | Dishonored®: Death of the Outsider™ | older | $29.99 | 9,801 86% | 294k | $8.8M (exactly $8,817,960) | Arkane Studios |
 | Witch It | older | $19.99 | 14,540 89% | 436k | $8.7M (exactly $8,719,638) | Barrel Roll Games |
 | Styx: Master of Shadows | older | $19.99 | 9,654 83% | 290k | $5.8M (exactly $5,789,504) | Cyanide Studio |
 | Fatekeeper | · EA | $9.99 | 10,605 80% | 318k | $3.2M (exactly $3,178,318) | Paraglacial |
 | YAPYAP | $9.99 | 8,385 83% | 252k | $2.5M (exactly $2,512,984) | Maison Bap | |
 | The Midnight Walk | $29.99 | 2,682 92% | 80k | $2.4M (exactly $2,412,995) | MoonHood | |
 | Styx: Blades of Greed | $39.99 | 782 66% | 23k | $938k (exactly $938,165) | Cyanide Studio | |
 | Arken Age | $39.99 | 669 90% | 20k | $803k (exactly $802,599) | VitruviusVR | |
 | Sapphire Safari | · EA | $12.99 | 1,653 92% | 50k | $644k (exactly $644,174) | Kinky Fridays |
 | Goblin Vyke: The Thief Tycoon | $14.99 | 1,397 70% | 42k | $628k (exactly $628,231) | Art Thieves | |
 | Kristala | $39.99 | 485 71% | 15k | $582k (exactly $581,854) | Astral Clocktower Studios | |
 | The Adventures of Sir Kicksalot | $9.99 | 999 98% | 30k | $299k (exactly $299,400) | Stéphane Le Roy | |
 | Zefyr: A Thief's Melody | $19.99 | 401 96% | 12k | $240k (exactly $240,480) | Oneiric Worlds |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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