Games › Investigation › Investigation + Horror
Should I ship a Horror Investigation game?
Investigation + Horror
Of 599 developers who shipped a Horror Investigation 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.. 1,025 more are announced, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.4k, ×3.0 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $250k, ×546 the market median. Revenue is up 55% on the market; 1,025 games are announced against 333 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $450 (exactly $450) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.4k (exactly $1,438) |
| Top 25% | $8.9k (exactly $8,869) |
| Top 5% | $259k (exactly $259,116) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 599 |
| Released games | 1,432 |
| Announced | 1,025 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $5.99 |
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 55% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 13%, 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
- Horror
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Investigation; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration, Puzzle
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, Story Rich, Dark
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 94% positive over 347,997 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $450. 8 in 10 of the 319 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 1,025 games are announced against 333 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 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
Phasmophobia 2020 · EA · $410M 
PEAK 2025 · $72M 
Content Warning 2024 · $17M 
Demonologist 2023 · $11M 
Bugsnax 2022 · $6.5M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Phasmophobia | · EA older | $19.99 | 684,009 94% | 21M | $410M (exactly $410,200,197) | Kinetic Games |
| | PEAK | $7.99 | 301,964 94% | 9.1M | $72M (exactly $72,380,771) | Team PEAK | |
| | Content Warning | older | $7.99 | 72,444 93% | 2.2M | $17M (exactly $17,364,827) | Zorro, Wilnyl, Philip, thePetHen, Skog |
| | Demonologist | older | $19.99 | 18,886 85% | 567k | $11M (exactly $11,325,934) | Clock Wizard Games |
| | Bugsnax | older | $24.99 | 8,673 97% | 260k | $6.5M (exactly $6,502,148) | Young Horses |
 | Unheard - Voices of Crime | older | $6.99 | 30,978 95% | 929k | $6.5M (exactly $6,496,087) | NEXT Studios |
 | The Sinking City Remastered | older | $39.99 | 5,361 75% | 161k | $6.4M (exactly $6,431,592) | Frogwares |
 | Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments | older | $29.99 | 7,130 89% | 214k | $6.4M (exactly $6,414,861) | Frogwares |
 | Blair Witch | older | $29.99 | 6,489 78% | 195k | $5.8M (exactly $5,838,153) | Bloober Team SA |
 | Sanfu | older | $10.99 | 17,323 82% | 520k | $5.7M (exactly $5,711,393) | Shiying Studio |
 | Shift At Midnight | $9.99 | 10,147 88% | 304k | $3.0M (exactly $3,041,056) | Bun Muen | |
 | The Drifter | $19.99 | 4,735 97% | 142k | $2.8M (exactly $2,839,580) | Powerhoof, Dave Lloyd | |
 | Species: Unknown | · EA | $9.99 | 9,437 94% | 283k | $2.8M (exactly $2,828,269) | WanadevStudio |
 | The Incident at Galley House | $19.99 | 4,087 94% | 123k | $2.5M (exactly $2,450,974) | William Rous, Evil Trout Inc. | |
 | The Séance of Blake Manor | $19.99 | 3,683 95% | 110k | $2.2M (exactly $2,208,695) | Spooky Doorway | |
 | The Sinking City 2 | $49.99 | 1,410 83% | 42k | $2.1M (exactly $2,114,577) | Frogwares | |
 | Servant of the Lake | $7.99 | 7,120 98% | 214k | $1.7M (exactly $1,706,664) | Rusty Lake | |
 | Subliminal | $9.99 | 3,535 74% | 106k | $1.1M (exactly $1,059,440) | Accidental Studios | |
 | Dreamcore | $17.99 | 1,879 89% | 56k | $1.0M (exactly $1,014,096) | Montraluz |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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