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Should I ship a Horse Immersive Sim?
Immersive Sim + Horses
Only 17 developers shipped a Horse Immersive 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, Saloon Simulator, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 20 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $13k, ×9.0 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $7.7k; 1 in 20 cleared $480k, ×327 the market median. Revenue is up 710% on the market; 20 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $7.6k (exactly $7,645) |
|---|---|
| Median | $13k (exactly $13,486) |
| Top 25% | $104k (exactly $104,162) |
| Top 5% | $490k (exactly $489,942) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 17 |
| Released games | 46 |
| Announced | 20 |
| Effort | 8 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $14.99 |
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 710% on the market, supply 10% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 7%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Immersive Sim
- effort 8 / 10 · low · effort 8 sits in the low band
- Horses
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 8 / 10 · online systems, open world
- Systems
- Immersive Sim; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Life Sim, Sandbox
- Price point
- $14.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, Realistic
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $14.99.
The top 10 games average 77% positive over 2,449 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $7.7k. 7 in 10 of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 20 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Immersive Sim with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Trading Card GameStrong odds
- + MinigamesStrong odds
- + WesternStrong odds
- + BoxingStrong odds
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + Asynchronous MultiplayerFair
- + Dating SimFair
- + RomanceFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + Visual NovelFair
- + Split ScreenFair
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Farming Simulator 22 | older | $19.99 | 69,477 93% | 2.1M | $42M (exactly $41,665,357) | GIANTS Software |
| | Ranch Simulator: Build, Hunt, Farm | older | $24.99 | 40,862 79% | 1.2M | $31M (exactly $30,634,241) | Toxic Dog |
| | Rival Stars Horse Racing: Desktop Edition | older | $29.99 | 5,032 91% | 151k | $4.5M (exactly $4,527,290) | PikPok |
| | Saloon Simulator | · EA | $18.99 | 860 89% | 26k | $490k (exactly $489,942) | Glivi Games S.A. |
| | Viking Frontiers | $19.99 | 537 51% | 16k | $322k (exactly $322,039) | BLUM Entertainment | |
| | Starters Orders 7 Horse Racing | older | $34.99 | 167 77% | 5.0k | $175k (exactly $175,300) | Strategic Designs Ltd. |
| | Horse Racing Manager | · EA | $24.99 | 208 88% | 6.2k | $156k (exactly $155,938) | Sheep Meadow Road Games |
| | A Merchant's Promise | · EA | $14.99 | 300 86% | 9.0k | $135k (exactly $134,910) | Game Draft Studio |
| | My Riding Stables: Life with Horses | older | $14.99 | 244 88% | 7.3k | $110k (exactly $109,727) | Sproing |
| | Medieval Horse Dealer Simulator | $17.99 | 193 89% | 5.8k | $104k (exactly $104,162) | One Slice of Pizza Games | |
| | Ancient Farm | $14.99 | 155 55% | 4.7k | $70k (exactly $69,704) | A2 Softworks | |
| | Tobiano | · EA | $24.99 | 81 79% | 2.4k | $61k (exactly $60,726) | Ida Meyer |
| | Rival Stars Horse Racing: VR Edition | $19.99 | 41 85% | 1.2k | $25k (exactly $24,588) | PikPok | |
| | Horse Farm Simulator | · EA | $9.99 | 45 60% | 1.4k | $13k (exactly $13,486) | Glow Egg Games |
| | Animal Trainer Simulator | $14.99 | 29 37% | 870 | $13k (exactly $13,041) | Games Incubator |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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