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Should I ship a Point & Click FMV?
FMV + Point & Click
Of 37 developers who shipped a Point & Click 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.. 51 more are announced, ×2.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $5.8k, ×12 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.8k; 1 in 20 cleared $330k, ×710 the market median. Revenue is up 460% on the market; 51 games are announced against 25 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.8k (exactly $1,796) |
|---|---|
| Median | $5.8k (exactly $5,838) |
| Top 25% | $52k (exactly $52,448) |
| Top 5% | $337k (exactly $337,275) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 37 |
| Released games | 182 |
| Announced | 51 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| 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 460% on the market, supply 110% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 7%, 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
- Point & Click
- effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- FMV, Point & Click; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Visual Novel, Adventure, Interactive Fiction
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, Cinematic, Cute
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 5,416 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.8k. 6 in 10 of the 14 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 51 games are announced against 25 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.0 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
Inscryption 2021 · $81M 
Not For Broadcast 2022 · $7.7M 
The Operator 2024 · $3.6M 
Obduction 2016 · $2.7M 
Her Story 2015 · $2.5M | 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 |
| | Not For Broadcast | older | $24.99 | 10,337 94% | 310k | $7.7M (exactly $7,749,649) | NotGames |
| | The Operator | older | $13.99 | 8,515 91% | 255k | $3.6M (exactly $3,573,746) | Bureau 81 |
| | Obduction | older | $29.99 | 3,032 78% | 91k | $2.7M (exactly $2,727,890) | Cyan, Inc. |
| | Her Story | older | $9.99 | 8,367 89% | 251k | $2.5M (exactly $2,507,590) | Sam Barlow |
 | Breakout 13 | older | $9.99 | 6,899 87% | 207k | $2.1M (exactly $2,067,630) | ALT Lab |
 | Peeping Dorm Manager | older | $10.99 | 6,206 92% | 186k | $2.0M (exactly $2,046,118) | HornyDoge |
 | At Dead Of Night | older | $15.99 | 3,289 94% | 99k | $1.6M (exactly $1,577,733) | Baggy Cat Ltd. |
 | Stories Untold | older | $9.99 | 4,357 86% | 131k | $1.3M (exactly $1,305,793) | Screen Burn |
 | Home Safety Hotline | older | $14.99 | 2,763 90% | 83k | $1.2M (exactly $1,242,521) | Night Signal Entertainment |
 | 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) | |
 | Dead Reset | $14.99 | 750 88% | 23k | $337k (exactly $337,275) | Dark Rift Horror, Wales Interactive | |
 | The Endless Abyss: A Busty Cop’s Corrupted Soul | $12.99 | 683 71% | 20k | $266k (exactly $266,165) | GiraffeLiam | |
 | Female Anchor Next Door | $14.99 | 488 80% | 15k | $219k (exactly $219,454) | 18cmSam, UVKen | |
 | Neyyah | $24.99 | 229 83% | 6.9k | $172k (exactly $171,681) | Defy Reality Entertainment | |
 | Heart of the Forest | $12.99 | 202 70% | 6.1k | $79k (exactly $78,719) | Trapped Predator | |
 | Éalú | $9.99 | 254 92% | 7.6k | $76k (exactly $76,124) | Beyond the Bark, Orr Games | |
 | Moka Love Relive♪ | $13.99 | 175 93% | 5.3k | $73k (exactly $73,448) | Riot-Cryo | |
 | 我的同事不对劲 | $8.99 | 215 89% | 6.5k | $58k (exactly $57,986) | 11J Studio | |
 | Massage With Benefits | $9.99 | 175 84% | 5.3k | $52k (exactly $52,448) | pasunna |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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