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Should I ship an Outbreak Sim Immersive Sim?
Immersive Sim + Outbreak Sim
Only 19 developers shipped an Outbreak Sim 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, Politics The Game, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 39 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $4.0k, ×2.6 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $420; 1 in 20 cleared $750k, ×505 the market median. Revenue is up 5470% on the market; 39 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $420 (exactly $420) |
|---|---|
| Median | $4.0k (exactly $3,957) |
| Top 25% | $53k (exactly $52,610) |
| Top 5% | $757k (exactly $757,042) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 19 |
| Released games | 47 |
| Announced | 39 |
| 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 up 5470% on the market, supply 85% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 9%, 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
- Outbreak Sim
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 8 / 10 · online systems, open world
- Systems
- Immersive Sim, Outbreak Sim; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Interactive Fiction, Adventure
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, 3D, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 90% positive over 4,202 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $420. All of the 6 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 39 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 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
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Infection Free Zone | · EA older | $24.99 | 16,568 80% | 497k | $12M (exactly $12,421,030) | Jutsu Games |
| | 60 Seconds! Reatomized | older | $9.99 | 18,362 94% | 551k | $5.5M (exactly $5,503,091) | Robot Gentleman |
| | 60 Seconds! | older | $8.99 | 10,491 84% | 315k | $2.8M (exactly $2,829,423) | Robot Gentleman |
| | Politics The Game | $9.99 | 2,526 95% | 76k | $757k (exactly $757,042) | Simplicity Games | |
| | CURE - A Hospital Simulator | · EA | $9.99 | 830 86% | 25k | $249k (exactly $248,751) | Sentinel Games |
| | SLEEP AWAKE | $29.99 | 164 71% | 4.9k | $148k (exactly $147,551) | EYES OUT, LLC. | |
| | Survivor's Notes | $6.99 | 352 91% | 11k | $74k (exactly $73,814) | MYSTERY CROWN, YESPLAY | |
| | ZOMBUTCHER: Monster Business Simulator | $12.99 | 135 69% | 4.1k | $53k (exactly $52,610) | ODIUS | |
| | Baby Blues Nightmares - Toddler Horror Game | older | $12.99 | 93 91% | 2.8k | $36k (exactly $36,242) | Steelkrill Studio |
| | Parasite Infection | older | $7.99 | 140 77% | 4.2k | $34k (exactly $33,558) | Light Dark Deviant |
| | Quarantine Zombies: Contamination | $9.99 | 74 48% | 2.2k | $22k (exactly $22,178) | Stones Games | |
| | Dead 4 Now: Bio-Weapon Simulator | $14.99 | 29 75% | 870 | $13k (exactly $13,041) | d'Evo | |
| | Alarm112: Fire Unit | $14.99 | 23 73% | 690 | $10k (exactly $10,343) | Control Room Labs | |
| | Symptoms of Infection | · EA | $3.50 | 58 89% | 1.7k | $6.1k (exactly $6,090) | ORB Research & Broadcasting |
| | Virus Lab | $11.99 | 11 0% | 330 | $4.0k (exactly $3,957) | Reset Games Studios |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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