Games › Investigation › Investigation + Heist
Should I ship a Heist Investigation game?
Investigation + Heist
Only 12 developers shipped a Heist Investigation game 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, The Precinct, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 19 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $5.5k, ×8.7 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.8k; 1 in 20 cleared $7.0M, ×11228 the market median. Revenue is up 355% on the market; 19 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.8k (exactly $1,798) |
|---|---|
| Median | $5.5k (exactly $5,456) |
| Top 25% | $204k (exactly $203,898) |
| Top 5% | $7.1M (exactly $7,050,949) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 12 |
| Released games | 41 |
| Announced | 19 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $18.99 |
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 355% on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 10%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Investigation
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Heist
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Investigation
- Price point
- $18.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 10 games average 85% positive over 8,591 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.8k. 9 in 10 of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 19 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Investigation with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Escape RoomFair
- + IdlerFair
- + TriviaLong shot
- + LGBTQ+Poor odds
- + JRPGPoor odds
- + HistoricalPoor odds
- + RomancePoor odds
- + GothicPoor odds
- + LovecraftianPoor odds
- + Dating SimPoor odds
- + Card GamePoor odds
- + SciencePoor odds
Comparable games
The Precinct 2025 · $7.1M 
Operation: Tango 2021 · $4.3M 
Deceive Inc. 2023 · $2.9M 
Forensics: Crime Scene Detective 2026 · $216k 
Thief VR: Legacy of Shadow 2025 · $204k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | The Precinct | $29.99 | 7,837 87% | 235k | $7.1M (exactly $7,050,949) | Fallen Tree Games Ltd | |
| | Operation: Tango | older | $19.99 | 7,167 86% | 215k | $4.3M (exactly $4,298,050) | Clever Plays |
| | Deceive Inc. | older | $19.99 | 4,755 84% | 143k | $2.9M (exactly $2,851,574) | Sweet Bandits Studios |
| | Forensics: Crime Scene Detective | $24.99 | 288 62% | 8.6k | $216k (exactly $215,914) | Binary Impact, Alchemical Works | |
| | Thief VR: Legacy of Shadow | $19.99 | 340 75% | 10k | $204k (exactly $203,898) | Maze Theory | |
 | Crash Time 2 | older | $4.99 | 1,170 63% | 35k | $175k (exactly $175,149) | · |
 | SIMULACRA 3 | older | $9.99 | 328 56% | 9.8k | $98k (exactly $98,302) | Kaigan Games |
 | Between Time: Escape Room | older | $9.99 | 326 80% | 9.8k | $98k (exactly $97,702) | mc2games |
 | Midnight Girl | older | $14.99 | 145 92% | 4.4k | $65k (exactly $65,206) | Italic |
 | Arsene Lupin - Once a Thief | $29.99 | 69 68% | 2.1k | $62k (exactly $62,079) | Blazing Griffin | |
 | Splittown | $19.99 | 19 94% | 570 | $11k (exactly $11,394) | Mats Kyyrö, Juha Keränen | |
 | LOGBOOK: Beneath the Storm | $13.99 | 13 38% | 390 | $5.5k (exactly $5,456) | Pink Iceberg Games | |
 | Unseen Diplomacy 2 | $18.99 | 6 83% | 180 | $3.4k (exactly $3,418) | Triangular Pixels | |
 | Casino Heist: Escape Room | $7.99 | 9 77% | 270 | $2.2k (exactly $2,157) | Benajes Games | |
 | Cyber Academy | · EA | $11.99 | 5 100% | 150 | $1.8k (exactly $1,798) | JinjaGames |
 | Security Control | · EA | $4.99 | 5 60% | 150 | $748 (exactly $748) | Greavette Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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