Games › Immersive Sim › Immersive Sim + Mars
Should I ship a Mars Immersive Sim?
Immersive Sim + Mars
Only 9 developers shipped a Mars Immersive Sim 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, Surviving Mars: Relaunched, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 22 more are announced, ×4.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $5.4k, ×3.6 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $50; 1 in 20 cleared $2.6M, ×1764 the market median. Revenue is down 100% on the market; 22 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $0 (exactly $0) |
|---|---|
| Median | $5.4k (exactly $5,396) |
| Top 25% | $52k (exactly $52,479) |
| Top 5% | $2.6M (exactly $2,641,739) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 9 |
| Released games | 25 |
| Announced | 22 |
| Effort | 8 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 100% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 20%, 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
- Mars
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 8 / 10 · online systems, open world
- Systems
- Immersive Sim
- Price point
- $9.99 typical
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 $39.99 or above; the middle game at $14.99.
The top 10 games average 72% positive over 5,749 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $50. 22 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.4 per shipper.
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
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + Visual NovelFair
- + Split ScreenFair
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Surviving Mars: Relaunched | $39.99 | 2,202 55% | 66k | $2.6M (exactly $2,641,739) | Haemimont Games | |
| | Mars Horizon | older | $19.99 | 2,757 84% | 83k | $1.7M (exactly $1,653,373) | Auroch Digital |
| | Rover Mechanic Simulator | older | $11.99 | 376 82% | 11k | $135k (exactly $135,247) | ▲ Pyramid Games |
| | Space Mechanic Simulator | older | $19.99 | 115 60% | 3.5k | $69k (exactly $68,966) | Atomic Jelly |
| | Surviving Mars: Pioneer | $24.99 | 78 83% | 2.3k | $58k (exactly $58,477) | Bolverk Games | |
| | Mars Vice | $24.99 | 70 97% | 2.1k | $52k (exactly $52,479) | Rho Labyrinths GmbH | |
| | SpaceCorp: 2025-2300AD | $9.99 | 73 83% | 2.2k | $22k (exactly $21,878) | Logix Interactive | |
| | Above Earth | · EA older | $17.99 | 39 71% | 1.2k | $21k (exactly $21,048) | Steven Eric Boyette |
| | Quriocity | older | $19.99 | 26 65% | 780 | $16k (exactly $15,592) | Oxeliz Pvt ltd |
| | Outer Space Shack | older | $24.99 | 13 38% | 390 | $9.7k (exactly $9,746) | Open Lowcode SAS |
| | Life on Mars (MiZtyl) | $14.99 | 12 33% | 360 | $5.4k (exactly $5,396) | MiZtyl | |
| | the epic and amazing adventure of gleepglorrpgilliandoohiggintilliousMMDCCXXXIX the adventure where gleepglorrpgilliandoohiggintilliousMMDCCXXXIX lives and becomes king gleepglorrpgilliandoohiggintilliousMMDCCXXXIX | $0.99 | 17 100% | 510 | $505 (exactly $505) | Hydyhude | |
| | Home Domes | $0.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | GivenKittens Games | |
| | Funorbit | · EA | $5.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | Aeroenix |
| | PlanetMars3D: Spirit Mission | $3.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | 4AI Limited |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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