Should I ship a Horror FMV?
FMV + Horror
Of 50 developers who shipped a Horror FMV 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.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $13k, ×28 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $2.6k; 1 in 20 cleared $1.0M, ×2267 the market median. Revenue is down 55% on the market; 66 games are announced against 33 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $2.5k (exactly $2,512) |
|---|---|
| Median | $13k (exactly $13,193) |
| Top 25% | $79k (exactly $78,719) |
| Top 5% | $1.1M (exactly $1,076,926) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 50 |
| Released games | 167 |
| Announced | 66 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| 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 55% on the market, supply 55% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 6%, 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
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- FMV; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Interactive Fiction, Simulation
- Price point
- $8.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, First-Person, Story Rich
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.
The top 10 games average 92% positive over 11,053 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $2.6k. 4 in 10 of the 26 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 66 games are announced against 33 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
FMV with a different setting or mood, 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
Inscryption 2021 · $81M 
Late Shift 2017 · $3.5M 
Breakout 13 2023 · $2.1M 
At Dead Of Night 2020 · $1.6M 
The Complex 2020 · $1.5M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Inscryption | older | $19.99 | 135,017 96% | 4.1M | $81M (exactly $80,969,695) | Daniel Mullins Games |
| | Late Shift | older | $14.99 | 7,762 86% | 233k | $3.5M (exactly $3,490,571) | CtrlMovie |
| | Breakout 13 | older | $9.99 | 6,899 87% | 207k | $2.1M (exactly $2,067,630) | ALT Lab |
| | At Dead Of Night | older | $15.99 | 3,289 94% | 99k | $1.6M (exactly $1,577,733) | Baggy Cat Ltd. |
| | The Complex | older | $14.99 | 3,310 78% | 99k | $1.5M (exactly $1,488,507) | Wales Interactive, Good Gate Media, Lit… (Wales Interactive, Good Gate Media, Little Jade Productions) |
 | Five Hearts Under One Roof season2 | $22.99 | 2,149 96% | 64k | $1.5M (exactly $1,482,165) | Storytaco | |
 | Stories Untold | older | $9.99 | 4,357 86% | 131k | $1.3M (exactly $1,305,793) | Screen Burn |
 | Eclipsium | $12.99 | 3,306 91% | 99k | $1.3M (exactly $1,288,348) | Housefire | |
 | Home Safety Hotline | older | $14.99 | 2,763 90% | 83k | $1.2M (exactly $1,242,521) | Night Signal Entertainment |
 | STASIS: BONE TOTEM | older | $19.99 | 2,025 93% | 61k | $1.2M (exactly $1,214,392) | THE BROTHERHOOD |
 | Forbidden Solitaire | $15.99 | 2,245 96% | 67k | $1.1M (exactly $1,076,926) | Grey Alien Games, Night Signal Entertai… (Grey Alien Games, Night Signal Entertainment) | |
 | Love Love Mystery Club | $19.99 | 612 97% | 18k | $367k (exactly $367,016) | LuminDrive | |
 | Dead Take | $14.99 | 752 87% | 23k | $338k (exactly $338,174) | Surgent Studios | |
 | Dead Reset | $14.99 | 750 88% | 23k | $337k (exactly $337,275) | Dark Rift Horror, Wales Interactive | |
 | Killing Time: Resurrected | $24.99 | 320 92% | 9.6k | $240k (exactly $239,904) | Nightdive Studios, 3DO | |
 | Summer’s Heartbeat | $19.99 | 336 92% | 10k | $201k (exactly $201,499) | Storytaco | |
 | Xenopurge | $12.49 | 419 84% | 13k | $157k (exactly $156,999) | Traptics | |
 | SLEEP AWAKE | $29.99 | 164 71% | 4.9k | $148k (exactly $147,551) | EYES OUT, LLC. |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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