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Should I ship a Gothic Simulation game?
Simulation + Gothic
Of 46 developers who shipped a Gothic Simulation 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.. 79 more are announced, ×3.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.2k, ×3.6 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $970k, ×1558 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 79 games are announced against 25 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $449 (exactly $449) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.2k (exactly $2,249) |
| Top 25% | $58k (exactly $58,011) |
| Top 5% | $978k (exactly $978,111) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 46 |
| Released games | 95 |
| Announced | 79 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $5.99 |
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 flat on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 13%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Simulation
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Gothic
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Simulation; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, RPG, Strategy
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, 2D, Dark
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 90% positive over 16,788 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $450. 7 in 10 of the 26 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 79 games are announced against 25 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Simulation with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Escape RoomStrong odds
- + World War IFair
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + PinballFair
- + Female ProtagonistFair
- + BirdsFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + MusicFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + ProgrammingFair
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Void War | $19.99 | 3,653 94% | 110k | $2.2M (exactly $2,190,704) | Tundra | |
| | Slots & Daggers | $7.99 | 7,421 93% | 223k | $1.8M (exactly $1,778,814) | Friedemann | |
| | Castlevania Anniversary Collection | older | $19.99 | 1,798 80% | 54k | $1.1M (exactly $1,078,261) | KONAMI |
| | Vampires: Bloodlord Rising | · EA | $19.99 | 1,631 70% | 49k | $978k (exactly $978,111) | Mehuman Games |
| | Shadows of Forbidden Gods | older | $19.99 | 1,046 91% | 31k | $627k (exactly $627,286) | Bobby Two Hands |
| | My Lovely Daughter | older | $14.99 | 1,165 70% | 35k | $524k (exactly $523,900) | GameChanger Studio |
| | A Chair in a Room : Greenwater | older | $24.99 | 598 83% | 18k | $448k (exactly $448,321) | Wolf & Wood Interactive Ltd |
| | Vampire Therapist | older | $14.99 | 915 93% | 27k | $411k (exactly $411,476) | Little Bat Games |
| | Trainee Death Simulator | $5.99 | 1,746 92% | 52k | $314k (exactly $313,756) | Bone Nail | |
| | My Lovely Wife | older | $14.99 | 685 74% | 21k | $308k (exactly $308,044) | GameChanger Studio, Toge Productions |
| | The Horror at Highrook | $19.99 | 461 90% | 14k | $276k (exactly $276,462) | Nullpointer Games | |
| | The Unholy Priest | $9.99 | 370 72% | 11k | $111k (exactly $110,889) | Grejuva | |
| | Lust Sisters 🔞 | $14.99 | 215 67% | 6.5k | $97k (exactly $96,686) | Carnality INC | |
| | Alice's Gaze | $3.99 | 770 91% | 23k | $92k (exactly $92,169) | Starmoon Cat | |
| | Cage of Roses | $12.99 | 190 88% | 5.7k | $74k (exactly $74,043) | ebi-hime | |
| | IGNOBLE | $6.99 | 331 82% | 9.9k | $69k (exactly $69,411) | Retromagine |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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