Games › Immersive Sim › Immersive Sim + Flight
Should I ship a Flight Immersive Sim?
Immersive Sim + Flight
Of 55 developers who shipped a Flight Immersive Sim 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.. 115 more are announced, ×3.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.5k, level with the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $1.3M, ×924 the market median. Revenue is up 235% on the market; 115 games are announced against 31 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $299 (exactly $299) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.5k (exactly $1,499) |
| Top 25% | $17k (exactly $16,639) |
| Top 5% | $1.4M (exactly $1,384,554) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 55 |
| Released games | 192 |
| Announced | 115 |
| Effort | 8 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| 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 up 235% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 13%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Immersive Sim
- effort 8 / 10 · low · effort 8 sits in the low band
- Flight
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 8 / 10 · online systems, open world
- Systems
- Immersive Sim, Flight; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Physics, Open World
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person, Realistic
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 65% positive over 27,971 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 9 in 10 of the 27 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 115 games are announced against 31 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.7 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Immersive Sim with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Trading Card GameStrong odds
- + MinigamesStrong odds
- + WesternStrong odds
- + BoxingStrong odds
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + Asynchronous MultiplayerFair
- + Dating SimFair
- + RomanceFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + Visual NovelFair
- + Split ScreenFair
Comparable games
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 2024 · $45M 
Stormworks: Build and Rescue 2020 · $41M 
X4: Foundations 2018 · $38M 
X-Plane 12 2022 · $11M 
Liftoff®: FPV Drone Racing 2018 · $8.2M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 | $69.99 | 21,633 59% | 649k | $45M (exactly $45,422,810) | Asobo Studio | |
| | Stormworks: Build and Rescue | older | $24.99 | 54,649 90% | 1.6M | $41M (exactly $40,970,355) | Geometa |
| | X4: Foundations | older | $49.99 | 25,257 79% | 758k | $38M (exactly $37,877,923) | Egosoft |
| | X-Plane 12 | older | $59.99 | 6,318 86% | 190k | $11M (exactly $11,370,505) | Laminar Research |
| | Liftoff®: FPV Drone Racing | older | $19.99 | 13,633 95% | 409k | $8.2M (exactly $8,175,710) | LuGus Studios |
 | Airport CEO | older | $24.99 | 7,752 83% | 233k | $5.8M (exactly $5,811,674) | Apog Labs |
 | Uncrashed : FPV Drone Simulator | older | $14.99 | 7,770 95% | 233k | $3.5M (exactly $3,494,169) | Luminite |
 | Aerofly FS 4 Flight Simulator | older | $59.99 | 1,400 89% | 42k | $2.5M (exactly $2,519,580) | IPACS |
 | Ostranauts | $19.99 | 3,137 77% | 94k | $1.9M (exactly $1,881,259) | Blue Bottle Games | |
 | TRYP FPV: Drone Racer Simulator | · EA older | $16.99 | 3,155 85% | 95k | $1.6M (exactly $1,608,103) | UNDEAD BATTERY |
 | Reentry - A Space Flight Simulator | $34.99 | 1,319 97% | 40k | $1.4M (exactly $1,384,554) | Lyra Creative | |
 | Firehawk: FPV Drone Shooter | $19.99 | 494 91% | 15k | $296k (exactly $296,252) | TruePlayers | |
 | Lakehopper | · EA | $9.99 | 479 88% | 14k | $144k (exactly $143,556) | Photon Games |
 | Nothing To Declare | $9.99 | 234 76% | 7.0k | $70k (exactly $70,130) | Rogue Duck Interactive | |
 | Legendary Pilots | $8.99 | 223 66% | 6.7k | $60k (exactly $60,143) | BerkBox | |
 | Glider Simulator | $7.99 | 242 97% | 7.3k | $58k (exactly $58,007) | HFRK. | |
 | Airport Baggage Simulator | $17.99 | 100 92% | 3.0k | $54k (exactly $53,970) | Three River Games (3RG) | |
 | I Fetch Rocks | $15.99 | 110 94% | 3.3k | $53k (exactly $52,767) | SarumXR |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.