Games › Immersive Sim › Immersive Sim + FMV
Should I ship an FMV Immersive Sim?
Immersive Sim + FMV
Of 112 developers who shipped an FMV 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.. 58 more are announced.
Verdict: strong odds, for a 8 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $63k, ×42 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 7 in 10 cleared $17k. Revenue is up 220% on the market; 58 games are announced against 67 developers who shipped in the last year, ×0.9 per shipper.
| Bottom 30% | $18k (exactly $17,810) |
|---|---|
| Median | $63k (exactly $62,958) |
| Top 25% | $229k (exactly $228,674) |
| Top 5% | $1.2M (exactly $1,201,149) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 112 |
| Released games | 245 |
| Announced | 58 |
| 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 220% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 4%, 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
- FMV
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 8 / 10 · online systems, open world
- Systems
- Immersive Sim, FMV; 9 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Interactive Fiction, RPG, Multiple Endings
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $15.99 or above
- Art
- 7 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, Cinematic, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $15.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 47,277 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $18k. 3 in 10 of the 64 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 58 games are announced against 67 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Immersive Sim with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Trading Card GameStrong odds
- + MinigamesStrong odds
- + WesternStrong odds
- + BoxingStrong odds
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + Asynchronous MultiplayerFair
- + Dating SimFair
- + RomanceFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + Visual NovelFair
- + Split ScreenFair
- + Time TravelFair
Comparable games
Love Is All Around 2023 · $11M 
Road to Empress Ⅱ 2026 · $4.2M 
The Operator 2024 · $3.6M 
Five Hearts Under One Roof 2024 · $3.5M 
Road to Empress I 2025 · $3.0M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Love Is All Around | older | $9.99 | 36,203 93% | 1.1M | $11M (exactly $10,850,039) | intiny |
| | Road to Empress Ⅱ | $18.00 | 7,773 80% | 233k | $4.2M (exactly $4,197,420) | New One Studio | |
| | The Operator | older | $13.99 | 8,515 91% | 255k | $3.6M (exactly $3,573,746) | Bureau 81 |
| | Five Hearts Under One Roof | $19.99 | 5,881 91% | 176k | $3.5M (exactly $3,526,836) | Storytaco | |
| | Road to Empress I | $8.49 | 11,829 86% | 355k | $3.0M (exactly $3,012,846) | New One Studio | |
 | Mandate Of Heaven | $14.99 | 5,446 91% | 163k | $2.4M (exactly $2,449,066) | 木焱工作室 | |
 | Breakout 13 | older | $9.99 | 6,899 87% | 207k | $2.1M (exactly $2,067,630) | ALT Lab |
 | Succubus Cafe | older | $29.99 | 2,260 89% | 68k | $2.0M (exactly $2,033,322) | MIGI STUDIO |
 | Knowledge, or know Lady | older | $6.99 | 8,501 95% | 255k | $1.8M (exactly $1,782,660) | 蒸汽满满工作室 |
 | The Three Kingdoms: Rebirth | $19.99 | 2,564 91% | 77k | $1.5M (exactly $1,537,631) | 玛奇阿朵互娱科技, 山与海工作室 | |
 | Five Hearts Under One Roof season2 | $22.99 | 2,149 96% | 64k | $1.5M (exactly $1,482,165) | Storytaco | |
 | Hello Love: 18 Again | $19.99 | 2,075 92% | 62k | $1.2M (exactly $1,244,378) | 念念而忘(Echofall Studio) | |
 | Shao Song I | $14.99 | 2,671 81% | 80k | $1.2M (exactly $1,201,149) | 互动之星, 猫眼娱乐 | |
 | Love is All Around 2 | $9.99 | 3,749 83% | 112k | $1.1M (exactly $1,123,575) | intiny | |
 | 美女，请别影响我成仙 | $10.99 | 3,140 93% | 94k | $1.0M (exactly $1,035,258) | 蒸汽满满工作室 |
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.