Should I ship a Hacking FPS?
FPS + Hacking
Only 17 developers shipped a Hacking FPS 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, Crime Simulator, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 37 more are announced, ×4.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $6.1k, ×4.1 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $2.8M, ×1874 the market median. Revenue is down 55% on the market; 37 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $449 (exactly $449) |
|---|---|
| Median | $6.1k (exactly $6,110) |
| Top 25% | $281k (exactly $280,613) |
| Top 5% | $2.8M (exactly $2,807,927) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 17 |
| Released games | 45 |
| Announced | 37 |
| Effort | 7 / 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 down 55% on the market, supply 10% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 20%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- FPS; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Shooter, Action-Adventure
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, Funny
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 80% positive over 12,646 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $450. 6 in 10 of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 37 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.6 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
FPS with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + Dating SimFair
- + IdlerFair
- + GamblingFair
- + FaithFair
- + Precision PlatformerFair
- + Martial ArtsFair
- + Walking SimulatorFair
- + RunnerLong shot
- + Action RTSLong shot
- + Bullet HellLong shot
- + DogsLong shot
Comparable games
Watch_Dogs® 2 2016 · $143M 
Call of Duty®: Ghosts 2014 · $16M 
Crime Simulator 2025 · $2.8M 
Peripeteia 2025 · EA · $2.3M 
Deadlink 2023 · $2.2M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Watch_Dogs® 2 | older | $49.99 | 95,242 82% | 2.9M | $143M (exactly $142,834,427) | Ubisoft |
| | Call of Duty®: Ghosts | older | $39.99 | 12,976 66% | 389k | $16M (exactly $15,567,307) | Infinity Ward |
| | Crime Simulator | $14.99 | 6,244 82% | 187k | $2.8M (exactly $2,807,927) | CookieDev | |
| | Peripeteia | · EA | $24.99 | 3,120 86% | 94k | $2.3M (exactly $2,339,064) | Ninth Exodus |
| | Deadlink | older | $24.99 | 2,871 90% | 86k | $2.2M (exactly $2,152,389) | Gruby Entertainment |
 | E.Y.E: Divine Cybermancy | older | $9.99 | 6,303 84% | 189k | $1.9M (exactly $1,889,009) | Streum On Studio |
 | SPRAWL | older | $14.99 | 1,961 87% | 59k | $882k (exactly $881,862) | MAETH |
 | Agent 64: Spies Never Die | $21.64 | 863 86% | 26k | $560k (exactly $560,260) | Replicant D6 | |
 | USAC: Code Breach | older | $14.99 | 1,067 91% | 32k | $480k (exactly $479,830) | Questions Factory |
 | Ctrl Alt Ego | older | $19.99 | 737 92% | 22k | $442k (exactly $441,979) | MindThunk |
 | Cheaters Cheetah | $9.99 | 1,406 59% | 42k | $421k (exactly $421,378) | Acmore Games | |
 | No Players Online | $14.99 | 624 83% | 19k | $281k (exactly $280,613) | Beeswax Games | |
 | Unsafe Express | $11.99 | 222 59% | 6.7k | $80k (exactly $79,853) | OnSkull Games | |
 | Within the Cosmos | $14.99 | 53 43% | 1.6k | $24k (exactly $23,834) | debdev | |
 | Cyberscape | $14.99 | 43 93% | 1.3k | $19k (exactly $19,337) | AtomicTorch Studio | |
 | GAME.exe 2 - Phantom Strike | $5.99 | 34 76% | 1.0k | $6.1k (exactly $6,110) | Punx Studios | |
 | Metathrone | $4.99 | 37 54% | 1.1k | $5.5k (exactly $5,539) | Orion Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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