Do I ship it?

GamesImmersive SimImmersive Sim + LGBTQ+

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an LGBTQ+ Immersive Sim?

Immersive Sim + LGBTQ+

Of 87 developers who shipped an LGBTQ+ 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.. 93 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 8 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $11k, ×7.5 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $1.5k. Revenue is up 125% on the market; 93 games are announced against 54 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 7.5 times the market baseline, revenue up 125% on the market, 93 announced, ×1.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Immersive Sim + LGBTQ+
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 87
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $31k → $12k → $7.2k → $5.1k → $12k → $35k → $5.1k (still earning) → $2.3k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Immersive Sim + LGBTQ+: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 87
Bottom 30% $1.5k (exactly $1,497)
Median $11k (exactly $11,228)
Top 25% $79k (exactly $79,388)
Top 5% $3.7M (exactly $3,726,754)
Developers, 2 yr 87
Released games 284
Announced 93
Effort 8 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $5.99

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 125% on the market, supply 35% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 10%, 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
LGBTQ+
effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
8 / 10 · online systems, open world
Systems
Immersive Sim; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Visual Novel, Choices Matter
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $39.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, Cute, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $39.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 80% positive over 90,923 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $1.5k, median $11k, 1 in 4 over $79k, 1 in 20 over $3.7M.

3 in 10 developers made under $1.5k. 8 in 10 of the 64 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 93 games are announced against 54 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Immersive Sim with a different setting or mood, 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. + Visual NovelFair399 devs · median $7.8k · 453 announced
  11. + Split ScreenFair12 devs · median $6.0k · 14 announced
  12. + Time TravelFair20 devs · median $3.7k · 10 announced

All 219 pairs on the Immersive Sim page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Cyberpunk 2077 older $59.99 883,400 87% 27M $1.6B (exactly $1,589,854,980) CD PROJEKT RED
NBA 2K26 $69.99 25,651 66% 770k $54M (exactly $53,859,405) Visual Concepts
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle $69.99 13,058 89% 392k $27M (exactly $27,417,883) MachineGames
Paralives · EA $39.99 20,123 89% 604k $24M (exactly $24,141,563) Alex Massé and team
House Party older $24.99 13,968 85% 419k $10M (exactly $10,471,810) Eek! Games, LLC
Road to Empress Ⅱ $18.00 7,773 80% 233k $4.2M (exactly $4,197,420) New One Studio
Train Sim World® 6 $49.99 2,485 78% 75k $3.7M (exactly $3,726,754) Dovetail Games
Train Sim World® 5 $39.99 3,028 80% 91k $3.6M (exactly $3,632,692) Dovetail Games
NBA 2K27 $69.99 1,698 53% 51k $3.6M (exactly $3,565,291) Visual Concepts
Road to Empress I $8.49 11,829 86% 355k $3.0M (exactly $3,012,846) New One Studio
Yunyun Syndrome!? Rhythm Psychosis $16.99 3,974 91% 119k $2.0M (exactly $2,025,548) Alliance Arts, WHO YOU
Sensei! I Like You So Much! $16.99 1,304 86% 39k $665k (exactly $664,649) LaoO Studio (Shanghai Ou Ou Xi Network… (LaoO Studio (Shanghai Ou Ou Xi Network Technology Co. LTD))

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