Games › Immersive Sim › Immersive Sim + LGBTQ+
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.
| 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.
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
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
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.
What kills games here
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.
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
- + Visual NovelFair
- + Split ScreenFair
- + Time TravelFair
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.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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