Do I ship it?

GamesImmersive SimImmersive Sim + Souls-like

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Souls-like Immersive Sim?

Immersive Sim + Souls-like

Only 19 developers shipped a Souls-like 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, Psycho Patrol R, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 33 more are announced, ×4.7 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 $150; 1 in 20 cleared $2.5M, ×1674 the market median. Revenue is down 95% on the market; 33 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.6 times the market baseline, revenue down 95% on the market, 33 announced, ×4.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Immersive Sim + Souls-like
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 19
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.2k → $186k → $2.4k → $299 → $34k → $27k → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Immersive Sim + Souls-like: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 19
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $4.0k (exactly $3,960)
Top 25% $232k (exactly $231,657)
Top 5% $2.5M (exactly $2,507,373)
Developers, 2 yr 19
Released games 49
Announced 33
Effort 8 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $8.99

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 45% fewer 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
Souls-like
effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
8 / 10 · online systems, open world
Systems
Immersive Sim, Souls-like; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Action, Exploration
Price point
$8.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, 3D, Atmospheric
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.

The top 10 games average 90% positive over 8,840 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $150, median $4.0k, 1 in 4 over $230k, 1 in 20 over $2.5M.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. 6 in 10 of the 15 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 33 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.7 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

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
No Rest for the Wicked · EA older $39.99 66,102 80% 2.0M $79M (exactly $79,302,569) Moon Studios GmbH
Blood West older $24.99 6,132 90% 184k $4.6M (exactly $4,597,160) Hyperstrange
Psycho Patrol R · EA $39.99 2,090 88% 63k $2.5M (exactly $2,507,373) Consumer Softproducts
Grimlord $29.99 927 78% 28k $834k (exactly $834,022) Metalcat Interactive Co.,Ltd
Leap of Faith older $10.99 2,308 96% 69k $761k (exactly $760,948) DriftyGames
Devil Spire Falls · EA $14.99 1,068 94% 32k $480k (exactly $480,280) Ithiro Sumi
Help Will Come Tomorrow older $19.99 777 80% 23k $466k (exactly $465,967) Arclight Creations
Your Mom $1.99 4,157 95% 125k $248k (exactly $248,173) Mom Game
The Axis Unseen $24.99 309 75% 9.3k $232k (exactly $231,657) Just Purkey Games
Juice Galaxy · EA older $4.99 1,244 98% 37k $186k (exactly $186,227) Fishlicka
Beauty’s Target $8.99 126 69% 3.8k $34k (exactly $33,982) Beauty’s Target
Three Wishes $11.99 75 98% 2.3k $27k (exactly $26,978) Kyuppin
Airline Ops · EA $14.99 37 29% 1.1k $17k (exactly $16,639) Smoky Bay Studio
Deep Despair 3 · EA $8.99 29 75% 870 $7.8k (exactly $7,821) BekkerDev Studio
Hovercrafts x Nihilism $6.00 22 86% 660 $4.0k (exactly $3,960) soomr

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