Do I ship it?

Games › Space Sim › Space Sim + Horror

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Horror Space Sim?

Space Sim + Horror

Only 11 developers shipped a Horror Space Sim 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, Planet Scanner, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 23 more are announced, ×3.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $420, ×0.7 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $90. 23 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.8 per shipper, while revenue is flat on the market.

Deciding numbers: median 0.7 times the market baseline, revenue flat on the market, 23 announced, ×3.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Space Sim + Horror
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 11
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $718 → $719 → $718 → $90
Outcomes for Space Sim + Horror: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 11
Bottom 30% $90 (exactly $90)
Median $419 (exactly $419)
Top 25% $2.3k (exactly $2,332)
Top 5% $7.0k (exactly $6,951)
Developers, 2 yr 11
Released games 47
Announced 23
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $2.99

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 flat on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 26%, 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.

Space Sim
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Horror
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium 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
Space Sim
Price point
$2.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 9 games average 80% positive over 135 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $90, median $420, 1 in 4 over $2.3k, 1 in 20 over $6.9k.

3 in 10 developers made under $90. 9 in 10 of the 8 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 23 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.8 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + DestructionFair14 devs · median $3.7k · 22 announced
  2. + Female ProtagonistFair9 devs · median $3.6k · 12 announced
  3. + Tactical RPGFair9 devs · median $1.8k · 15 announced
  4. + WarFair34 devs · median $1.3k · 42 announced
  5. + Walking SimulatorFair16 devs · median $598 · 20 announced
  6. + SportsFair8 devs · median $479 · 9 announced
  7. + DiplomacyLong shot7 devs · median $360 · 14 announced
  8. + MilitaryPoor odds18 devs · median $6.3k · 39 announced
  9. + Online Co-OpPoor odds18 devs · median $4.9k · 63 announced
  10. + Strategy RPGPoor odds8 devs · median $4.9k · 21 announced
  11. + SandboxPoor odds86 devs · median $4.6k · 213 announced
  12. + Colony SimPoor odds42 devs · median $4.6k · 91 announced

All 114 pairs on the Space Sim page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Genesis Alpha One Deluxe Edition 2020 · $939k Voyager-19 2024 · $117k The Last Hope 2016 · $16k CRYODEATH VR 2024 · $16k Disinfection 2022 · EA · $8.6k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Genesis Alpha One Deluxe Edition older $19.99 1,566 73% 47k $939k (exactly $939,130) Radiation Blue
Voyager-19 older $3.99 977 87% 29k $117k (exactly $116,947) Miziziziz
The Last Hope older $1.99 268 46% 8.0k $16k (exactly $16,000) Balti Calarasi
CRYODEATH VR older $24.99 21 85% 630 $16k (exactly $15,744) Kerag Elisaar
Disinfection · EA older $10.99 26 69% 780 $8.6k (exactly $8,572) Evil Turtle Productions
Planet Scanner $7.99 29 96% 870 $7.0k (exactly $6,951) Ham Goblin
TuHou Remilia - Begin Of Scarlet Family older $6.99 33 9% 990 $6.9k (exactly $6,920) CoKe_Deer
Astrophobia $2.99 61 77% 1.8k $5.5k (exactly $5,472) CosmicArcade
FFF older $3.99 30 76% 900 $3.6k (exactly $3,591) polyperfect
Project Proxima older $4.99 18 88% 540 $2.7k (exactly $2,695) Luna Apps
BURN $2.99 26 92% 780 $2.3k (exactly $2,332) Wumbo Workshop LLC
The Survivor $2.99 8 37% 240 $718 (exactly $718) Cyber752
My Apollogies $3.99 5 60% 150 $598 (exactly $598) Spatium Interactive d.o.o
Anomaly Operation $6.99 2 100% 60 $419 (exactly $419) for
Echo $2.99 2 50% 60 $179 (exactly $179) Mistway
No Friends Space $2.99 1 0% 30 $90 (exactly $90) Scalions Studios
The Entity Within $2.99 1 0% 30 $90 (exactly $90) MightyCodeDragon
Forest Runner $1.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) Pumpk1nDuke

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