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Should I ship a Hacking Sandbox?
Sandbox + Hacking
Of 23 developers who shipped a Hacking Sandbox 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.. 43 more are announced, ×2.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $4.3k, ×6.8 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.1k; 1 in 20 cleared $260k, ×419 the market median. Revenue is down 90% on the market; 43 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.0k (exactly $1,048) |
|---|---|
| Median | $4.3k (exactly $4,286) |
| Top 25% | $31k (exactly $31,487) |
| Top 5% | $263k (exactly $263,437) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 23 |
| Released games | 73 |
| Announced | 43 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $10.99 |
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 90% on the market, supply 90% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 12%, 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
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Sandbox; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Programming, Simulation, Immersive Sim
- Price point
- $10.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, Realistic, Relaxing
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $10.99.
The top 10 games average 81% positive over 16,244 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.1k. 6 in 10 of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 43 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Sandbox with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FightingStrong odds
- + Turn-BasedFair
- + World War IIFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + ProgrammingFair
- + CatsFair
- + SportsFair
- + GamblingFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + Combat RacingFair
- + Trading Card GameFair
- + IdlerFair
Comparable games
Watch_Dogs® 2 2016 · $143M 
Shadows of Doubt 2024 · $11M 
Internet Cafe Simulator 2 2022 · $7.4M 
Streamer Life Simulator 2020 · $4.2M 
Thief Simulator 2 2023 · $3.9M | 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 |
| | Shadows of Doubt | $24.99 | 14,646 82% | 439k | $11M (exactly $10,980,106) | ColePowered Games | |
| | 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 |
| | Thief Simulator 2 | older | $19.99 | 6,568 87% | 197k | $3.9M (exactly $3,938,830) | CookieDev, Ultimate Games S.A. |
 | 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 |
 | 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 |
 | ServiceIT: You can do IT | $12.99 | 676 56% | 20k | $263k (exactly $263,437) | picture4u | |
 | IT Specialist Simulator | · EA | $13.99 | 433 74% | 13k | $182k (exactly $181,730) | Pixel Team RED |
 | 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 | |
 | Web Host Simulator | · EA | $24.99 | 42 26% | 1.3k | $31k (exactly $31,487) | Chibum |
 | Mnemonimov | · EA | $19.99 | 32 100% | 960 | $19k (exactly $19,190) | Reverie Foundry |
 | Breadbox | $11.99 | 34 97% | 1.0k | $12k (exactly $12,230) | Bitfall | |
 | ASTRA-256 Assembler | $14.99 | 21 76% | 630 | $9.4k (exactly $9,444) | brusnik.com | |
 | Data Center Simulator Game | · EA | $22.00 | 11 9% | 330 | $7.3k (exactly $7,260) | DC Uplink |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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