Games › Quick-Time Events › Quick-Time Events + Horror
Should I ship a Horror Quick-Time Events game?
Quick-Time Events + Horror
Of 60 developers who shipped a Horror Quick-Time Events 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.. 106 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $600, ×1.3 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $2.0M, ×4221 the market median. Revenue is down 10% on the market; 106 games are announced against 39 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $179 (exactly $179) |
|---|---|
| Median | $599 (exactly $599) |
| Top 25% | $4.6k (exactly $4,554) |
| Top 5% | $2.0M (exactly $2,005,099) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 60 |
| Released games | 139 |
| Announced | 106 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $4.99 |
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 10% on the market, supply 75% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 16%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Quick-Time Events
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium 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
- Quick-Time Events; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Puzzle, Exploration
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, Atmospheric, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 80% positive over 9,964 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $180. 8 in 10 of the 33 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 106 games are announced against 39 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Quick-Time Events with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Dating SimFair
- + Shoot 'Em UpFair
- + Life SimFair
- + SimulationFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + Resource ManagementFair
- + FlightFair
- + AliensFair
- + SpaceFair
- + Bullet TimeLong shot
- + DemonsLong shot
- + Bullet HellLong shot
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Tomb Raider Game of the Year | older | $19.99 | 173,270 95% | 5.2M | $104M (exactly $103,910,019) | Crystal Dynamics, Eidos-Montréal, Feral… (Crystal Dynamics, Eidos-Montréal, Feral Interactive (Mac), Nixxes) |
| | Resident Evil 4 (2005) | older | $19.99 | 78,502 94% | 2.4M | $47M (exactly $47,077,649) | Capcom |
| | Resident Evil 6 | older | $19.99 | 51,420 77% | 1.5M | $31M (exactly $30,836,574) | Capcom |
| | Resident Evil 5 | older | $19.99 | 48,521 87% | 1.5M | $29M (exactly $29,098,044) | Capcom |
| | The Quarry | older | $59.99 | 16,127 83% | 484k | $29M (exactly $29,023,762) | Supermassive Games |
| | The Walking Dead | older | $14.99 | 53,650 97% | 1.6M | $24M (exactly $24,126,405) | Telltale Games |
| | Beyond: Two Souls | older | $19.99 | 37,154 87% | 1.1M | $22M (exactly $22,281,254) | Quantic Dream |
| | The Walking Dead: Season Two | older | $14.99 | 26,848 96% | 805k | $12M (exactly $12,073,546) | Telltale Games |
| | The Beast Inside | older | $24.99 | 10,528 83% | 316k | $7.9M (exactly $7,892,842) | Illusion Ray |
| | Until Dawn™ | $59.99 | 3,564 82% | 107k | $6.4M (exactly $6,414,131) | Ballistic Moon | |
| | A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead | $29.99 | 2,331 74% | 70k | $2.1M (exactly $2,097,201) | Stormind Games | |
| | Directive 8020 | $49.99 | 1,337 63% | 40k | $2.0M (exactly $2,005,099) | Supermassive Games | |
| | The Inn-Sanity | $7.99 | 1,561 96% | 47k | $374k (exactly $374,172) | Steppe Hare Studio | |
| | The Occultist | $29.99 | 244 74% | 7.3k | $220k (exactly $219,527) | DALOAR | |
| | Angel Engine | $7.99 | 303 80% | 9.1k | $73k (exactly $72,629) | HMS Studios, Black Lantern Collective | |
| | KunKunNest | $3.99 | 434 95% | 13k | $52k (exactly $51,950) | JNTM, KunKunRoom, 鸡你太美 | |
| | The Supper: New Blood | $9.99 | 120 88% | 3.6k | $36k (exactly $35,964) | White Blanket Games | |
| | Shifting To The Backrooms | $8.99 | 51 86% | 1.5k | $14k (exactly $13,755) | Oopsome Games | |
| | Vesperis | $13.99 | 19 47% | 570 | $8.0k (exactly $7,974) | AbnerDev |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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