Games › FMV › FMV + Hidden Object
Should I ship a Hidden Object FMV?
FMV + Hidden Object
Only 12 developers shipped a Hidden Object FMV in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, The Remake of the End of the Greatest RPG of All Time, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 17 more are announced, ×2.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $3.3k, ×6.9 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $78k, ×166 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 17 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $449 (exactly $449) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.3k (exactly $3,297) |
| Top 25% | $9.5k (exactly $9,524) |
| Top 5% | $79k (exactly $78,796) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 12 |
| Released games | 59 |
| Announced | 17 |
| Effort | 4 / 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 flat on the market, supply 100% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 2%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- FMV
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Hidden Object
- effort 2 / 10 · high · static scenes with click targets
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- FMV, Hidden Object
- Price point
- $5.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 379 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $450. 17 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
FMV with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + SurvivalStrong odds
- + Post-apocalypticStrong odds
- + StrategyStrong odds
- + Multiple EndingsStrong odds
- + Immersive SimStrong odds
- + Choices MatterStrong odds
- + Dating SimStrong odds
- + RomanceStrong odds
- + SimulationStrong odds
- + JRPGStrong odds
- + Visual NovelStrong odds
- + RPGStrong odds
Comparable games
IMMORTALITY 2022 · $1.1M 
The Bunker 2016 · $739k 
Toonstruck 2016 · $163k 
Attentat 1942 2017 · $148k 
Mystery Case Files®: 13th Skull™ Collector's Edition 2016 · $101k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | IMMORTALITY | older | $19.99 | 1,768 84% | 53k | $1.1M (exactly $1,060,270) | Sam Barlow, Half Mermaid |
| | The Bunker | older | $14.99 | 1,644 69% | 49k | $739k (exactly $739,307) | Splendy Interactive, Wales Interactive |
| | Toonstruck | older | $19.99 | 272 97% | 8.2k | $163k (exactly $163,118) | Burst |
| | Attentat 1942 | older | $10.99 | 448 92% | 13k | $148k (exactly $147,706) | Charles Games |
| | Mystery Case Files®: 13th Skull™ Collector's Edition | older | $19.99 | 168 85% | 5.0k | $101k (exactly $100,750) | Big Fish Games |
 | Escape from the Room of the Serving Doll | older | $6.99 | 451 84% | 14k | $95k (exactly $94,575) | 桃山プロダクション |
 | The Last Dream: Developer's Edition | older | $9.99 | 266 78% | 8.0k | $80k (exactly $79,720) | Specialbit Studio |
 | The Remake of the End of the Greatest RPG of All Time | $17.99 | 146 86% | 4.4k | $79k (exactly $78,796) | Coin Drop Games, Lucas Immanuel, jucobe… (Coin Drop Games, Lucas Immanuel, jucobee, Kyle Chuang) | |
 | Curse of Black Bone | older | $14.99 | 123 61% | 3.7k | $55k (exactly $55,313) | Entropy Digital Entertainment |
 | Questerium: Sinister Trinity HD Collector's Edition | older | $6.99 | 208 80% | 6.2k | $44k (exactly $43,618) | URSE Games |
 | Ladies, Don’t Tempt My Immortality | $10.99 | 57 89% | 1.7k | $19k (exactly $18,793) | 蒸汽满满工作室 | |
 | I Know This Place..? (chapter II) | $5.99 | 53 94% | 1.6k | $9.5k (exactly $9,524) | SameFrame | |
 | ニコニコさん | Niconico-san | $2.99 | 63 96% | 1.9k | $5.7k (exactly $5,651) | TI-BA | |
 | Your Succubus | $6.99 | 20 80% | 600 | $4.2k (exactly $4,194) | Easyfun Studio | |
 | Dinosaur Adventure 3-D (1999 Version) | $9.99 | 11 100% | 330 | $3.3k (exactly $3,297) | Knowledge Adventure, Wanderful Edutainm… (Knowledge Adventure, Wanderful Edutainment, Jordan Freeman Group) | |
 | Ladies I'm Ready | $4.99 | 22 68% | 660 | $3.3k (exactly $3,293) | Midou Studio | |
 | Mina | · EA | $5.95 | 3 0% | 90 | $536 (exactly $536) | Anopia Games |
 | Radley Ravencroft's Spy Web Mystery | · EA | $4.99 | 3 33% | 90 | $449 (exactly $449) | sliphtrex |
 | Rescue the Hostages: Words of Fear | $4.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $150 (exactly $150) | rescuethehostages.com |
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.