Do I ship it?

Games › Immersive Sim › Immersive Sim + Incremental

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Incremental Immersive Sim?

Immersive Sim + Incremental

Of 161 developers who shipped an Incremental Immersive Sim 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.. 168 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 8 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.3k, ×0.8 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $300. Revenue is up 90% on the market; 168 games are announced against 99 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 0.8 times the market baseline, revenue up 90% on the market, 168 announced, ×1.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Immersive Sim + Incremental
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 161
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $5.4k → $537 → $2.2k → $1.2k → $2.1k → $718 → $1.2k (still earning) → $1.5k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Immersive Sim + Incremental: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 161
Bottom 30% $300 (exactly $300)
Median $1.3k (exactly $1,256)
Top 25% $6.2k (exactly $6,224)
Top 5% $137k (exactly $136,925)
Developers, 2 yr 161
Released games 330
Announced 168
Effort 8 / 10
AI-buildability Low
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 up 90% on the market, supply 55% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 11%, 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 low: the lowest rating among its tags.

Immersive Sim
effort 8 / 10 · low · effort 8 sits in the low band
Incremental
effort 1 / 10 · high · formulas and upgrade tables

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
8 / 10 · online systems, open world
Systems
Immersive Sim, Incremental; 3 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Point & Click, Management
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Relaxing, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 90% positive over 17,513 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $300, median $1.3k, 1 in 4 over $6.2k, 1 in 20 over $130k.

3 in 10 developers made under $300. 9 in 10 of the 83 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 168 games are announced against 99 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + FMVStrong odds112 devs · median $63k · 58 announced
  2. + Trading Card GameStrong odds18 devs · median $30k · 13 announced
  3. + MinigamesStrong odds15 devs · median $24k · 11 announced
  4. + WesternStrong odds17 devs · median $4.4k · 14 announced
  5. + BoxingStrong odds16 devs · median $2.7k · 12 announced
  6. + Job SimulatorFair152 devs · median $20k · 180 announced
  7. + Asynchronous MultiplayerFair8 devs · median $17k · 10 announced
  8. + Dating SimFair295 devs · median $13k · 296 announced
  9. + RomanceFair254 devs · median $12k · 266 announced
  10. + LGBTQ+Fair87 devs · median $11k · 93 announced
  11. + Visual NovelFair399 devs · median $7.8k · 453 announced
  12. + Split ScreenFair12 devs · median $6.0k · 14 announced

All 219 pairs on the Immersive Sim page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Cyber Manhunt 2: New World - The Hacking Simulator 2025 · $2.0M KOTAMON: My Sis Found A Super-Rare Card In Her Cereal Box, So I Became A Garbage Man To Find The Entire Collection And Earn $1,000,000 2026 · $522k Supermarket Chaos 2026 · $489k 恋爱吗？我家猫会后空翻 2025 · $452k FACEMINER 2025 · $364k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Cyber Manhunt 2: New World - The Hacking Simulator $12.99 5,191 92% 156k $2.0M (exactly $2,022,933) Aluba Van+
KOTAMON: My Sis Found A Super-Rare Card In Her Cereal Box, So I Became A Garbage Man To Find The Entire Collection And Earn $1,000,000 $6.99 2,489 81% 75k $522k (exactly $521,943) KotaMota Games
Supermarket Chaos $4.99 3,266 92% 98k $489k (exactly $488,920) BunnyHop
恋爱吗？我家猫会后空翻 $9.99 1,508 96% 45k $452k (exactly $451,948) 光循花火工作室
FACEMINER $7.99 1,517 90% 46k $364k (exactly $363,625) Wristwork
Dreamlike Love with Seira older $6.99 1,377 98% 41k $289k (exactly $288,757) るび様崇める会
JudgeSim older $6.99 1,376 84% 41k $289k (exactly $288,547) DelusionArt Studio
Sort Them Ducks $5.99 1,461 92% 44k $263k (exactly $262,542) Mr.Duck
I'm on Observation Duty 6 older $11.99 652 94% 20k $235k (exactly $234,524) Notovia, Dreamloop Games
万词破 - 单词女友 $14.99 448 89% 13k $201k (exactly $201,466) 万词破学游组
Hymer 2000 $4.99 1,031 89% 31k $154k (exactly $154,341) doBell
Vtuber Hack $54.99 83 74% 2.5k $137k (exactly $136,925) ベルゼブブ
MASSAGE MY EX-BULLY $6.99 519 70% 16k $109k (exactly $108,834) Warumiyo

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