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Should I ship an Interactive Fiction Immersive Sim?
Immersive Sim + Interactive Fiction
Of 382 developers who shipped an Interactive Fiction 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.. 562 more are announced, ×2.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $3.8k, ×2.5 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $780; 1 in 20 cleared $540k, ×364 the market median. Revenue is up 15% on the market; 562 games are announced against 245 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $779 (exactly $779) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.8k (exactly $3,767) |
| Top 25% | $48k (exactly $47,668) |
| Top 5% | $545k (exactly $545,486) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 382 |
| Released games | 912 |
| Announced | 562 |
| Effort | 8 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $8.99 |
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 15% on the market, supply 60% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 15%, 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
- Interactive Fiction
- effort 1 / 10 · high · prose plus a state machine
What it takes
- Effort
- 8 / 10 · online systems, open world
- Systems
- Immersive Sim, Interactive Fiction; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Visual Novel, RPG, Simulation
- Price point
- $8.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, First-Person, Emotional
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.
The top 10 games average 86% positive over 50,160 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $780. 7 in 10 of the 200 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 562 games are announced against 245 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Immersive Sim with a different second tag, 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
Love Is All Around 2023 · $11M 
Road to Empress Ⅱ 2026 · $4.2M 
The Operator 2024 · $3.6M 
Five Hearts Under One Roof 2024 · $3.5M 
Road to Empress I 2025 · $3.0M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Love Is All Around | older | $9.99 | 36,203 93% | 1.1M | $11M (exactly $10,850,039) | intiny |
| | Road to Empress Ⅱ | $18.00 | 7,773 80% | 233k | $4.2M (exactly $4,197,420) | New One Studio | |
| | The Operator | older | $13.99 | 8,515 91% | 255k | $3.6M (exactly $3,573,746) | Bureau 81 |
| | Five Hearts Under One Roof | $19.99 | 5,881 91% | 176k | $3.5M (exactly $3,526,836) | Storytaco | |
| | Road to Empress I | $8.49 | 11,829 86% | 355k | $3.0M (exactly $3,012,846) | New One Studio | |
 | School Days | $14.99 | 6,023 77% | 181k | $2.7M (exactly $2,708,543) | 白雨工作室 | |
 | Mandate Of Heaven | $14.99 | 5,446 91% | 163k | $2.4M (exactly $2,449,066) | 木焱工作室 | |
 | No Case Should Remain Unsolved | older | $6.99 | 10,332 96% | 310k | $2.2M (exactly $2,166,620) | Somi |
 | Breakout 13 | older | $9.99 | 6,899 87% | 207k | $2.1M (exactly $2,067,630) | ALT Lab |
 | Knowledge, or know Lady | older | $6.99 | 8,501 95% | 255k | $1.8M (exactly $1,782,660) | 蒸汽满满工作室 |
 | The Three Kingdoms: Rebirth | $19.99 | 2,564 91% | 77k | $1.5M (exactly $1,537,631) | 玛奇阿朵互娱科技, 山与海工作室 | |
 | Five Hearts Under One Roof season2 | $22.99 | 2,149 96% | 64k | $1.5M (exactly $1,482,165) | Storytaco | |
 | Hello Love: 18 Again | $19.99 | 2,075 92% | 62k | $1.2M (exactly $1,244,378) | 念念而忘(Echofall Studio) | |
 | Shao Song I | $14.99 | 2,671 81% | 80k | $1.2M (exactly $1,201,149) | 互动之星, 猫眼娱乐 | |
 | Love is All Around 2 | $9.99 | 3,749 83% | 112k | $1.1M (exactly $1,123,575) | intiny |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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