Games › Investigation › Investigation + Female Protagonist
Should I ship a Female-Led Investigation game?
Investigation + Female Protagonist
Of 166 developers who shipped a Female-Led Investigation 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.. 334 more are announced, ×3.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $4.3k, ×9.1 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $430k, ×911 the market median. Revenue is down 35% on the market; 334 games are announced against 95 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $599 (exactly $599) |
|---|---|
| Median | $4.3k (exactly $4,341) |
| Top 25% | $41k (exactly $41,101) |
| Top 5% | $433k (exactly $432,577) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 166 |
| Released games | 564 |
| Announced | 334 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| Typical price | $8.99 |
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 35% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 12%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Investigation
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Female Protagonist
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Investigation; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Puzzle, Exploration
- Price point
- $8.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, Atmospheric, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.
The top 10 games average 94% positive over 40,016 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $600. 7 in 10 of the 82 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 334 games are announced against 95 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Investigation with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Escape RoomFair
- + IdlerFair
- + TriviaLong shot
- + LGBTQ+Poor odds
- + JRPGPoor odds
- + HistoricalPoor odds
- + RomancePoor odds
- + GothicPoor odds
- + LovecraftianPoor odds
- + Dating SimPoor odds
- + Card GamePoor odds
- + SciencePoor odds
Comparable games
Magical Girl Witch Trials 2025 · $27M 
Police Simulator: Patrol Officers 2022 · $23M 
Syberia: The World Before 2022 · $4.9M 
Operation: Tango 2021 · $4.3M 
Agent A: A puzzle in disguise 2019 · $3.5M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Magical Girl Witch Trials | $29.99 | 29,869 96% | 896k | $27M (exactly $26,873,139) | Acacia, Re,AER | |
| | Police Simulator: Patrol Officers | older | $39.99 | 18,880 75% | 566k | $23M (exactly $22,650,336) | Aesir Interactive |
| | Syberia: The World Before | older | $39.99 | 4,069 89% | 122k | $4.9M (exactly $4,881,579) | Microids Studio Paris |
| | Operation: Tango | older | $19.99 | 7,167 86% | 215k | $4.3M (exactly $4,298,050) | Clever Plays |
| | Agent A: A puzzle in disguise | older | $19.99 | 5,901 95% | 177k | $3.5M (exactly $3,538,830) | Yak & Co |
 | The Painscreek Killings | older | $19.99 | 5,784 90% | 174k | $3.5M (exactly $3,468,665) | EQ Studios |
 | Far Away | older | $12.99 | 7,598 94% | 228k | $3.0M (exactly $2,960,941) | Gratesca |
 | Deceive Inc. | older | $19.99 | 4,755 84% | 143k | $2.9M (exactly $2,851,574) | Sweet Bandits Studios |
 | Enigma of Fear | $29.99 | 3,045 95% | 91k | $2.7M (exactly $2,739,586) | Dumativa, Cellbit | |
 | Call of the Sea | older | $19.99 | 4,535 87% | 136k | $2.7M (exactly $2,719,640) | Out of the Blue Games |
 | Kathy Rain 2: Soothsayer | $19.99 | 1,244 95% | 37k | $746k (exactly $746,027) | Clifftop Games | |
 | Dimhaven - The Lost Source | $25.99 | 945 87% | 28k | $737k (exactly $736,816) | Zadbox Entertainment | |
 | 1666: Amsterdam | · EA | $29.99 | 784 63% | 24k | $705k (exactly $705,365) | Panache Digital Games |
 | Syberia - Remastered | $29.99 | 724 70% | 22k | $651k (exactly $651,383) | Virtuallyz Gaming, Microids Studio Paris | |
 | Equinox: Homecoming | $14.99 | 1,294 80% | 39k | $582k (exactly $581,912) | Blue Scarab Entertainment | |
 | Old Skies | $19.99 | 969 93% | 29k | $581k (exactly $581,109) | Wadjet Eye Games | |
 | Penelope Pendrick and the Art of Deceit | $24.99 | 577 97% | 17k | $433k (exactly $432,577) | Default Cube Games | |
 | Ghost Town | $24.99 | 565 95% | 17k | $424k (exactly $423,580) | Fireproof Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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