Games › Programming › Programming + Hacking
Should I ship a Hacking Programming game?
Programming + Hacking
Of 63 developers who shipped a Hacking Programming 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.. 90 more are announced, ×2.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.6k, ×3.3 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $750; 1 in 20 cleared $180k, ×383 the market median. Revenue is up 170% on the market; 90 games are announced against 41 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $748 (exactly $748) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.6k (exactly $1,574) |
| Top 25% | $12k (exactly $11,988) |
| Top 5% | $182k (exactly $181,730) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 63 |
| Released games | 150 |
| Announced | 90 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 170% on the market, supply 85% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 9%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Programming
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Hacking
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Programming; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Logic, Puzzle
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Realistic, 2D, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 77% positive over 3,621 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $750. 8 in 10 of the 23 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 90 games are announced against 41 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Programming with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Base BuildingFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + RogueliteFair
- + SandboxFair
- + Time ManagementFair
- + AutomationFair
- + Turn-Based TacticsFair
- + SimulationFair
- + RobotsFair
- + CrimeFair
- + Sci-fiFair
- + FuturisticFair
Comparable games
Hacknet 2015 · $5.1M 
Turing Complete 2021 · EA · $3.3M 
SHENZHEN I/O 2016 · $1.7M 
Duskers 2016 · $1.4M 
Screeps: World 2016 · $1.2M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Hacknet | older | $9.99 | 16,910 93% | 507k | $5.1M (exactly $5,067,927) | Team Fractal Alligator |
| | Turing Complete | · EA older | $19.99 | 5,520 95% | 166k | $3.3M (exactly $3,310,344) | LevelHead |
| | SHENZHEN I/O | older | $14.99 | 3,746 95% | 112k | $1.7M (exactly $1,684,576) | Zachtronics |
| | Duskers | older | $19.99 | 2,304 90% | 69k | $1.4M (exactly $1,381,709) | Misfits Attic |
| | Screeps: World | older | $19.99 | 1,934 86% | 58k | $1.2M (exactly $1,159,820) | Screeps, LLC |
 | Grey Hack | · EA older | $19.99 | 1,801 90% | 54k | $1.1M (exactly $1,080,060) | Loading Home |
 | Hacker Simulator | older | $24.99 | 1,230 74% | 37k | $922k (exactly $922,131) | Save All Studio |
 | EXAPUNKS | older | $19.99 | 1,378 96% | 41k | $826k (exactly $826,387) | Zachtronics |
 | TIS-100 | older | $6.99 | 3,391 97% | 102k | $711k (exactly $711,093) | Zachtronics |
 | Uplink | older | $11.99 | 1,771 89% | 53k | $637k (exactly $637,029) | Introversion Software |
 | HackHub - Ultimate Hacker Simulator | $16.99 | 937 88% | 28k | $478k (exactly $477,589) | HotBunny | |
 | ServiceIT: You can do IT | $12.99 | 676 56% | 20k | $263k (exactly $263,437) | picture4u | |
 | JOY OF PROGRAMMING - Software Engineering Simulator | $17.99 | 378 76% | 11k | $204k (exactly $204,007) | Prof. Scherer | |
 | IT Specialist Simulator | · EA | $13.99 | 433 74% | 13k | $182k (exactly $181,730) | Pixel Team RED |
 | Net.Attack() - Code or Die! | $7.99 | 510 80% | 15k | $122k (exactly $122,247) | ByteRockers' Games | |
 | Quantum Odyssey | · EA | $17.99 | 141 92% | 4.2k | $76k (exactly $76,098) | Quarks Interactive |
 | AI Learns To Drive | $7.49 | 208 95% | 6.2k | $47k (exactly $46,738) | ActivationFunction | |
 | Hacker's Journey | $4.99 | 228 76% | 6.8k | $34k (exactly $34,132) | Electric Heart | |
 | Web Host Simulator | · EA | $24.99 | 42 26% | 1.3k | $31k (exactly $31,487) | Chibum |
 | Hard Chip | · EA | $14.99 | 68 91% | 2.0k | $31k (exactly $30,580) | Elorth |
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.