Games › Life Sim › Life Sim + Hacking
Should I ship a Hacking Life Sim?
Life Sim + Hacking
Only 14 developers shipped a Hacking Life Sim 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, Streamer Life Simulator 2, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 26 more are announced, ×2.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $7.3k, ×15 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $4.0M, ×8523 the market median. Revenue is down 100% on the market; 26 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $599 (exactly $599) |
|---|---|
| Median | $7.3k (exactly $7,260) |
| Top 25% | $182k (exactly $181,730) |
| Top 5% | $4.0M (exactly $4,048,575) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 14 |
| Released games | 36 |
| Announced | 26 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $12.99 |
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 100% on the market, supply 265% more 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.
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Life Sim; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Immersive Sim, Simulation, Action
- Price point
- $12.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- all of the top 25% ship with First-Person, Funny, Realistic
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $12.99.
The top 10 games average 80% positive over 14,282 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $600. 26 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Life Sim with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + MinigamesStrong odds
- + MusicStrong odds
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + Football (Soccer)Fair
- + FaithFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + GamblingFair
- + DemonsFair
- + Point & ClickFair
- + LogicFair
- + ZombiesFair
Comparable games
Crime Scene Cleaner 2024 · $29M 
Internet Cafe Simulator 2 2022 · $7.4M 
Streamer Life Simulator 2020 · $4.2M 
Streamer Life Simulator 2 2026 · $4.0M 
Crime Simulator 2025 · $2.8M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Crime Scene Cleaner | older | $29.99 | 32,469 98% | 974k | $29M (exactly $29,212,359) | President Studio |
| | Internet Cafe Simulator 2 | older | $19.99 | 12,299 74% | 369k | $7.4M (exactly $7,375,710) | Cheesecake Dev |
| | Streamer Life Simulator | older | $19.99 | 7,066 77% | 212k | $4.2M (exactly $4,237,480) | Cheesecake Dev |
| | Streamer Life Simulator 2 | $19.99 | 6,751 81% | 203k | $4.0M (exactly $4,048,575) | Cheesecake Dev | |
| | Crime Simulator | $14.99 | 6,244 82% | 187k | $2.8M (exactly $2,807,927) | CookieDev | |
 | Anonymous Hacker Simulator | older | $19.99 | 741 85% | 22k | $444k (exactly $444,378) | Sicarius |
 | ServiceIT: You can do IT | $12.99 | 676 56% | 20k | $263k (exactly $263,437) | picture4u | |
 | Crypto Mining Simulator | older | $4.99 | 1,419 65% | 43k | $212k (exactly $212,424) | Satosha Nakamoti |
 | IT Specialist Simulator | · EA | $13.99 | 433 74% | 13k | $182k (exactly $181,730) | Pixel Team RED |
 | Computer Repair Shop | older | $9.99 | 562 66% | 17k | $168k (exactly $168,431) | Cheesecake Dev |
 | Vtuber Hack | $54.99 | 83 74% | 2.5k | $137k (exactly $136,925) | ベルゼブブ | |
 | Web Host Simulator | · EA | $24.99 | 42 26% | 1.3k | $31k (exactly $31,487) | Chibum |
 | Data Center Simulator Game | · EA | $22.00 | 11 9% | 330 | $7.3k (exactly $7,260) | DC Uplink |
 | Torrent Empire | $7.99 | 24 62% | 720 | $5.8k (exactly $5,753) | Steel Games | |
 | Crypto Mining | $4.99 | 16 12% | 480 | $2.4k (exactly $2,395) | KA1LEOT GROUP | |
 | Commit!!! | $9.99 | 2 100% | 60 | $599 (exactly $599) | gand-tr |
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.