Do I ship it?

Games › Stealth › Stealth + Hacking

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Hacking Stealth game?

Stealth + Hacking

Of 29 developers who shipped a Hacking 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.. 66 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 $1.8k, ×2.9 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $2.8M, ×4471 the market median. Revenue is down 100% on the market; 66 games are announced against 23 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.9 times the market baseline, revenue down 100% on the market, 66 announced, ×2.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Stealth + Hacking
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 29
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $3.7k → $11M → $2.3M → $2.4k → $300 (still earning) → $480 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Stealth + Hacking: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 29
Bottom 30% $179 (exactly $179)
Median $1.8k (exactly $1,798)
Top 25% $41k (exactly $41,372)
Top 5% $2.8M (exactly $2,807,927)
Developers, 2 yr 29
Released games 79
Announced 66
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $11.99

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 285% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 22%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

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
Hacking
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

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, RPG, Immersive Sim
Price point
$11.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, First-Person, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $11.99.

The top 10 games average 82% positive over 26,113 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $180, median $1.8k, 1 in 4 over $41k, 1 in 20 over $2.8M.

3 in 10 developers made under $180. 6 in 10 of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 66 games are announced against 23 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Stealth with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + JRPGFair7 devs · median $1.3k · 12 announced
  2. + World War IIPoor odds11 devs · median $43k · 14 announced
  3. + LGBTQ+Poor odds19 devs · median $30k · 30 announced
  4. + Turn-Based CombatPoor odds8 devs · median $27k · 31 announced
  5. + WargamePoor odds10 devs · median $21k · 39 announced
  6. + DinosaursPoor odds10 devs · median $17k · 23 announced
  7. + Gun CustomizationPoor odds20 devs · median $13k · 63 announced
  8. + Base BuildingPoor odds21 devs · median $13k · 57 announced
  9. + Cold WarPoor odds7 devs · median $10k · 31 announced
  10. + HistoricalPoor odds32 devs · median $9.6k · 76 announced
  11. + MilitaryPoor odds43 devs · median $8.5k · 122 announced
  12. + WarPoor odds30 devs · median $7.6k · 89 announced

All 159 pairs on the Stealth page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Watch_Dogs® 2 2016 · $143M Watch_Dogs™ 2014 · $30M Crime Scene Cleaner 2024 · $29M Shadows of Doubt 2024 · $11M 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
Watch_Dogs™ older $19.99 49,193 79% 1.5M $30M (exactly $29,501,042) Ubisoft
Crime Scene Cleaner older $29.99 32,469 98% 974k $29M (exactly $29,212,359) President Studio
Shadows of Doubt $24.99 14,646 82% 439k $11M (exactly $10,980,106) ColePowered Games
Thief Simulator 2 older $19.99 6,568 87% 197k $3.9M (exactly $3,938,830) CookieDev, Ultimate Games S.A.
Gunpoint older $9.99 10,276 97% 308k $3.1M (exactly $3,079,717) Suspicious Developments
Crime Simulator $14.99 6,244 82% 187k $2.8M (exactly $2,807,927) CookieDev
Peripeteia · EA $24.99 3,120 86% 94k $2.3M (exactly $2,339,064) Ninth Exodus
Observer: System Redux older $29.99 2,462 84% 74k $2.2M (exactly $2,215,061) Bloober Team, Anshar Studios
E.Y.E: Divine Cybermancy older $9.99 6,303 84% 189k $1.9M (exactly $1,889,009) Streum On Studio
Deathground · EA $14.99 877 61% 26k $394k (exactly $394,387) Jaw Drop Games
Deadeye Deepfake Simulacrum $12.99 839 98% 25k $327k (exactly $326,958) nodayshalleraseyou
Carmen Sandiego $29.99 86 67% 2.6k $77k (exactly $77,374) Gameloft
PARKSIDE: DECAYED SOUL MANIPULATION $13.99 178 87% 5.3k $75k (exactly $74,707) Banana Hardsoft
Lia: Hacking Destiny $14.99 92 96% 2.8k $41k (exactly $41,372) Orube Game Studio
Project Chameleon $9.99 19 100% 570 $5.7k (exactly $5,694) Anonymous King
NULLPTR $14.99 12 100% 360 $5.4k (exactly $5,396) Jeferson Silva

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.