Do I ship it?

Games › Immersive Sim › Immersive Sim + Roguelike

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Roguelike Immersive Sim?

Immersive Sim + Roguelike

Of 60 developers who shipped a Roguelike 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.. 114 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.3k, ×0.9 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $970k, ×654 the market median. Revenue is down 95% on the market; 114 games are announced against 41 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 0.9 times the market baseline, revenue down 95% on the market, 114 announced, ×2.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Immersive Sim + Roguelike
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 60
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $6.8k → $5.5k → $2.4k → $20k → $13k → $1.3k → $898 (still earning) → $210 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Immersive Sim + Roguelike: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 60
Bottom 30% $299 (exactly $299)
Median $1.3k (exactly $1,347)
Top 25% $31k (exactly $30,826)
Top 5% $979k (exactly $979,080)
Developers, 2 yr 60
Released games 127
Announced 114
Effort 8 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $6.99

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 95% on the market, supply 115% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 7%, 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
Roguelike
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 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, Roguelike; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelite, Simulation, Life Sim
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 81% positive over 11,802 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $300, median $1.3k, 1 in 4 over $30k, 1 in 20 over $970k.

3 in 10 developers made under $300. 6 in 10 of the 24 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 114 games are announced against 41 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Immersive Sim with a different second tag, 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. + LGBTQ+Fair87 devs · median $11k · 93 announced
  11. + Visual NovelFair399 devs · median $7.8k · 453 announced
  12. + Split ScreenFair12 devs · median $6.0k · 14 announced

All 219 pairs on the Immersive Sim page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Streets of Rogue 2019 · $10M Barony 2015 · $7.6M Depersonalization 2024 · $3.6M Void Bastards 2019 · $3.5M Feed the Cups 2024 · EA · $2.3M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Streets of Rogue older $19.99 17,215 96% 516k $10M (exactly $10,323,836) Matt Dabrowski
Barony older $19.99 12,714 90% 381k $7.6M (exactly $7,624,586) Turning Wheel LLC
Depersonalization older $19.99 6,041 92% 181k $3.6M (exactly $3,622,788) MeowNature
Void Bastards older $29.99 3,888 86% 117k $3.5M (exactly $3,498,034) Blue Manchu
Feed the Cups · EA older $15.99 4,708 72% 141k $2.3M (exactly $2,258,428) Vambear Games
Ostranauts $19.99 3,137 77% 94k $1.9M (exactly $1,881,259) Blue Bottle Games
Bootstrap Island $24.99 1,362 81% 41k $1.0M (exactly $1,021,091) Maru VR
Restaurats $19.90 1,640 89% 49k $979k (exactly $979,080) toR Studio
Eldritch older $14.99 1,698 88% 51k $764k (exactly $763,591) Minor Key Games
Uplink older $11.99 1,771 89% 53k $637k (exactly $637,029) Introversion Software
Lost But Found $6.99 2,316 71% 69k $486k (exactly $485,665) Rogue Duck Interactive
Firehawk: FPV Drone Shooter $19.99 494 91% 15k $296k (exactly $296,252) TruePlayers
Tower Networking Inc. · EA $19.99 317 95% 9.5k $190k (exactly $190,105) Pocosia Studios
It Has My Face $9.99 608 88% 18k $182k (exactly $182,218) NightByte Games
Dyping Escape $9.99 544 91% 16k $163k (exactly $163,037) Heaviside Creations
ROGUE LIGHT DECK BUILDER $3.99 888 94% 27k $106k (exactly $106,294) Gil Lawson
我的人生 $6.99 496 65% 15k $104k (exactly $104,011) ZZ Games

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