Do I ship it?

GamesHuntingHunting + Investigation

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Investigation Hunting game?

Hunting + Investigation

Only 8 developers shipped an Investigation Hunting 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 Lightkeeper, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 26 more are announced, ×8.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.

Only 3 developers shipped this in the last year, under the 5 a verdict needs; over 2 years the middle one made $1.8k against a market of $630. 26 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 2.9 times the market baseline, revenue down 50% on the market, 26 announced, ×8.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Hunting + Investigation
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 8

not enough cohorts to draw

Outcomes for Hunting + Investigation: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 8
Bottom 30% $360 (exactly $360)
Median $1.8k (exactly $1,799)
Top 25% $17k (exactly $17,014)
Top 5% $259k (exactly $259,116)
Developers, 2 yr 8
Released games 30
Announced 26
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $7.99

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 50% on the market, supply 40% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 20%, 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.

Hunting
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Investigation
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high 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
Hunting, Investigation
Price point
$7.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

Fewer than 10 games in the last 2 years; sentiment and price figures use the all window.

The top 25% priced at $11.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 75% positive over 4,218 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $360, median $1.8k, 1 in 4 over $17k, 1 in 20 over $250k.

3 in 10 developers made under $360. 7 in 10 of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 26 games are announced against 3 developers who shipped in the last year, ×8.7 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Hunting with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Post-apocalypticPoor odds19 devs · median $33k · 29 announced
  2. + Base BuildingPoor odds24 devs · median $29k · 70 announced
  3. + Co-opPoor odds30 devs · median $22k · 58 announced
  4. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds19 devs · median $22k · 29 announced
  5. + Online Co-OpPoor odds31 devs · median $18k · 56 announced
  6. + AgriculturePoor odds14 devs · median $15k · 20 announced
  7. + SandboxPoor odds37 devs · median $12k · 77 announced
  8. + MagicPoor odds10 devs · median $9.0k · 20 announced
  9. + SimulationPoor odds76 devs · median $5.7k · 128 announced
  10. + BuildingPoor odds37 devs · median $4.8k · 79 announced
  11. + CraftingPoor odds50 devs · median $4.8k · 116 announced
  12. + RoguelikePoor odds11 devs · median $4.8k · 11 announced

All 72 pairs on the Hunting page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
HellSign older $19.99 2,147 67% 64k $1.3M (exactly $1,287,556) Ballistic Interactive
The Lightkeeper $7.99 1,081 81% 32k $259k (exactly $259,116) Darkphobia Games
Noch older $9.99 252 78% 7.6k $76k (exactly $75,524) Fair Games Studio, Noostyche
Lycans older $4.99 309 91% 9.3k $46k (exactly $46,257) Onu Games
SO BELOW · EA older $11.99 56 73% 1.7k $20k (exactly $20,143) Eonia Studio
BLOOD MALL: RETAPED $1.99 285 94% 8.6k $17k (exactly $17,014) Ollie Hall
The President older $19.99 10 70% 300 $6.0k (exactly $5,997) GamesBraz
Raccoon on a boat $5.99 33 60% 990 $5.9k (exactly $5,930) PUMPKIM
Snipe Hunt older $6.99 27 51% 810 $5.7k (exactly $5,662) Flux-Soul
One Hunt · EA older $4.99 18 72% 540 $2.7k (exactly $2,695) Jonathan Moye
Undefined Survivors -アンディファインド サバイバーズ- · EA $29.99 2 0% 60 $1.8k (exactly $1,799) Runpath Inc.
Hunter's Journey: Nightmare Hunting Collector's Edition $15.99 1 100% 30 $480 (exactly $480) Do Games Limited
HUNTED $3.00 4 0% 120 $360 (exactly $360) Marcos moreira
Phantom Patrol $7.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) Gamma Interactive
Peasant or Rebel? $4.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) Milord

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