Do I ship it?

Games › Strategy › Strategy + Hacking

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Hacking Strategy game?

Strategy + Hacking

Of 96 developers who shipped a Hacking Strategy 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.. 132 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.2k, ×1.9 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $420. Revenue is up 80% on the market; 132 games are announced against 71 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.9 times the market baseline, revenue up 80% on the market, 132 announced, ×1.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Strategy + Hacking
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 96
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $25k → $1.5k → $1.9k → $719 → $3.3k → $2.4k → $748 (still earning) → $955 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Strategy + Hacking: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 96
Bottom 30% $419 (exactly $419)
Median $1.2k (exactly $1,199)
Top 25% $5.7k (exactly $5,694)
Top 5% $100k (exactly $100,093)
Developers, 2 yr 96
Released games 199
Announced 132
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $6.99

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 80% on the market, supply 185% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 11%, 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.

Strategy
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 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
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Strategy; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Puzzle, Programming
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 89% positive over 8,638 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $420, median $1.2k, 1 in 4 over $5.6k, 1 in 20 over $100k.

3 in 10 developers made under $420. 8 in 10 of the 28 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 132 games are announced against 71 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + FMVStrong odds50 devs · median $65k · 27 announced
  2. + Job SimulatorFair62 devs · median $16k · 74 announced
  3. + BaseballFair14 devs · median $7.5k · 7 announced
  4. + LGBTQ+Fair89 devs · median $6.7k · 91 announced
  5. + WuxiaFair23 devs · median $4.7k · 41 announced
  6. + FarmingFair44 devs · median $4.3k · 42 announced
  7. + Martial ArtsFair81 devs · median $3.0k · 94 announced
  8. + SubmarineFair21 devs · median $2.4k · 23 announced
  9. + NavalFair66 devs · median $2.2k · 88 announced
  10. + IdlerFair696 devs · median $1.9k · 988 announced
  11. + Shop KeeperFair159 devs · median $1.8k · 264 announced
  12. + IncrementalFair785 devs · median $1.2k · 1,127 announced

All 275 pairs on the Strategy page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Watch_Dogs™ 2014 · $30M Streamer Life Simulator 2020 · $4.2M Gunpoint 2013 · $3.1M Internet Cafe Simulator 2019 · $2.6M Cyber Manhunt 2: New World - The Hacking Simulator 2025 · $2.0M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Watch_Dogs™ older $19.99 49,193 79% 1.5M $30M (exactly $29,501,042) Ubisoft
Streamer Life Simulator older $19.99 7,066 77% 212k $4.2M (exactly $4,237,480) Cheesecake Dev
Gunpoint older $9.99 10,276 97% 308k $3.1M (exactly $3,079,717) Suspicious Developments
Internet Cafe Simulator older $9.99 8,729 75% 262k $2.6M (exactly $2,616,081) Cheesecake Dev
Cyber Manhunt 2: New World - The Hacking Simulator $12.99 5,191 92% 156k $2.0M (exactly $2,022,933) Aluba Van+
Duskers older $19.99 2,304 90% 69k $1.4M (exactly $1,381,709) Misfits Attic
Nodebuster older $2.99 13,852 97% 416k $1.2M (exactly $1,242,524) Goblobin
Cogmind · EA older $24.99 1,560 95% 47k $1.2M (exactly $1,169,532) Grid Sage Games
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
HackHub - Ultimate Hacker Simulator $16.99 937 88% 28k $478k (exactly $477,589) HotBunny
JOY OF PROGRAMMING - Software Engineering Simulator $17.99 378 76% 11k $204k (exactly $204,007) Prof. Scherer
Net.Attack() - Code or Die! $7.99 510 80% 15k $122k (exactly $122,247) ByteRockers' Games
FEED THE AI $5.99 557 90% 17k $100k (exactly $100,093) Weird Kid Games
Minutescape $5.99 546 74% 16k $98k (exactly $98,116) Molter
Into The Grid · EA $14.99 195 83% 5.9k $88k (exactly $87,692) Flatline Studios
Carmen Sandiego $29.99 86 67% 2.6k $77k (exactly $77,374) Gameloft
868-BACK $19.99 122 98% 3.7k $73k (exactly $73,163) Michael Brough
HeistGeist $19.90 116 95% 3.5k $69k (exactly $69,252) Doublequote Studio

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