Games › Stealth › Stealth + Futuristic
Should I ship a Futuristic Stealth game?
Stealth + Futuristic
Of 47 developers who shipped a Futuristic Stealth game 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.. 118 more are announced, ×5.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.2k, ×3.4 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $1.0M, ×1597 the market median. Revenue is up 860% on the market; 118 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $299 (exactly $299) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.2k (exactly $2,158) |
| Top 25% | $21k (exactly $20,509) |
| Top 5% | $1.0M (exactly $1,002,698) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 47 |
| Released games | 167 |
| Announced | 118 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 860% on the market, supply 25% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 17%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Stealth
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Futuristic
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Stealth; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Action-Adventure
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, 3D, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 86% positive over 18,610 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 8 in 10 of the 32 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 118 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.9 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Stealth with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + JRPGFair
- + World War IIPoor odds
- + LGBTQ+Poor odds
- + Turn-Based CombatPoor odds
- + WargamePoor odds
- + DinosaursPoor odds
- + Gun CustomizationPoor odds
- + Base BuildingPoor odds
- + Cold WarPoor odds
- + HistoricalPoor odds
- + MilitaryPoor odds
- + WarPoor odds
Comparable games
Prey 2017 · $34M 
Watch_Dogs™ 2014 · $30M 
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided 2016 · $28M 
Deus Ex: Human Revolution - Director's Cut 2013 · $15M 
Crysis Remastered 2021 · $15M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Prey | older | $29.99 | 37,759 90% | 1.1M | $34M (exactly $33,971,772) | Arkane Studios |
| | Watch_Dogs™ | older | $19.99 | 49,193 79% | 1.5M | $30M (exactly $29,501,042) | Ubisoft |
| | Deus Ex: Mankind Divided | older | $29.99 | 30,709 77% | 921k | $28M (exactly $27,628,887) | Eidos Montreal, Feral Interactive (Linu… (Eidos Montreal, Feral Interactive (Linux/Mac)) |
| | Deus Ex: Human Revolution - Director's Cut | older | $19.99 | 25,392 91% | 762k | $15M (exactly $15,227,582) | Eidos Montreal |
| | Crysis Remastered | older | $29.99 | 16,822 77% | 505k | $15M (exactly $15,134,753) | Crytek |
 | Horizon Zero Dawn™ Remastered | $49.99 | 6,860 84% | 206k | $10M (exactly $10,287,942) | Guerrilla Games, Nixxes Software | |
 | Crysis 2 - Maximum Edition | older | $29.99 | 9,352 86% | 281k | $8.4M (exactly $8,413,994) | Crytek Studios |
 | Far Cry 3 - Blood Dragon | older | $14.99 | 18,356 87% | 551k | $8.3M (exactly $8,254,693) | Ubisoft Montreal |
 | Crysis 2 Remastered | older | $29.99 | 9,034 89% | 271k | $8.1M (exactly $8,127,890) | Crytek, Saber Interactive |
 | Crysis 3 Remastered | older | $29.99 | 7,731 88% | 232k | $7.0M (exactly $6,955,581) | Crytek, Saber Interactive |
 | The Killing Antidote | · EA | $29.99 | 7,512 88% | 225k | $6.8M (exactly $6,758,546) | MetalStar Studio |
 | Skin Deep | $19.99 | 1,672 94% | 50k | $1.0M (exactly $1,002,698) | Blendo Games | |
 | Transience | $19.99 | 774 69% | 23k | $464k (exactly $464,168) | RESURGENT | |
 | Deadeye Deepfake Simulacrum | $12.99 | 839 98% | 25k | $327k (exactly $326,958) | nodayshalleraseyou | |
 | UNDERWARD | $9.99 | 593 73% | 18k | $178k (exactly $177,722) | INTENSE | |
 | Astrumis - Survive Together | $9.99 | 139 70% | 4.2k | $42k (exactly $41,658) | Tyci | |
 | Lia: Hacking Destiny | $14.99 | 92 96% | 2.8k | $41k (exactly $41,372) | Orube Game Studio | |
 | Tiny Treats | $19.99 | 48 97% | 1.4k | $29k (exactly $28,786) | Hans Woofington | |
 | Lily’s Labyrinth of Lust | $9.99 | 81 48% | 2.4k | $24k (exactly $24,276) | Erommersion Studios |
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.