Games › Immersive Sim › Immersive Sim + Space
Should I ship a Space Immersive Sim?
Immersive Sim + Space
Of 105 developers who shipped a Space 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.. 206 more are announced, ×3.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.2k, ×0.8 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $240; 1 in 20 cleared $260k, ×174 the market median. Revenue is up 125% on the market; 206 games are announced against 63 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $239 (exactly $239) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.2k (exactly $1,199) |
| Top 25% | $15k (exactly $15,101) |
| Top 5% | $260k (exactly $260,140) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 105 |
| Released games | 289 |
| Announced | 206 |
| Effort | 8 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 45% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 12%, 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
- Space
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 8 / 10 · online systems, open world
- Systems
- Immersive Sim; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Exploration, Adventure
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, 3D, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 80% positive over 11,553 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $240. 9 in 10 of the 51 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 206 games are announced against 63 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.3 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
The Planet Crafter 2024 · $50M 
X4: Foundations 2018 · $38M 
Prey 2017 · $34M 
Universe Sandbox 2015 · EA · $25M 
System Shock 2023 · $12M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | The Planet Crafter | older | $23.99 | 68,855 96% | 2.1M | $50M (exactly $49,554,944) | Miju Games |
| | X4: Foundations | older | $49.99 | 25,257 79% | 758k | $38M (exactly $37,877,923) | Egosoft |
| | Prey | older | $29.99 | 37,759 90% | 1.1M | $34M (exactly $33,971,772) | Arkane Studios |
| | Universe Sandbox | · EA older | $29.99 | 27,843 96% | 835k | $25M (exactly $25,050,347) | Giant Army |
| | System Shock | older | $39.99 | 9,786 90% | 294k | $12M (exactly $11,740,264) | Nightdive Studios |
 | Sins of a Solar Empire II | older | $49.99 | 7,147 83% | 214k | $11M (exactly $10,718,356) | Ironclad Games Corporation, Stardock En… (Ironclad Games Corporation, Stardock Entertainment) |
 | Star Trucker | older | $24.99 | 4,928 77% | 148k | $3.7M (exactly $3,694,522) | Monster and Monster |
 | Void Bastards | older | $29.99 | 3,888 86% | 117k | $3.5M (exactly $3,498,034) | Blue Manchu |
 | Surviving Mars: Relaunched | $39.99 | 2,202 55% | 66k | $2.6M (exactly $2,641,739) | Haemimont Games | |
 | Ostranauts | $19.99 | 3,137 77% | 94k | $1.9M (exactly $1,881,259) | Blue Bottle Games | |
 | Reentry - A Space Flight Simulator | $34.99 | 1,319 97% | 40k | $1.4M (exactly $1,384,554) | Lyra Creative | |
 | Skin Deep | $19.99 | 1,672 94% | 50k | $1.0M (exactly $1,002,698) | Blendo Games | |
 | Breathedge 2 | · EA | $19.99 | 1,491 86% | 45k | $894k (exactly $894,153) | RedRuins Softworks |
 | Together: Moon Escape | $9.99 | 868 90% | 26k | $260k (exactly $260,140) | CarlosGameDev | |
 | Ambrosia Sky | $24.99 | 267 89% | 8.0k | $200k (exactly $200,170) | Soft Rains, Blackbird Interactive | |
 | Honeycomb: The World Beyond | $29.99 | 138 65% | 4.1k | $124k (exactly $124,159) | Frozen Way | |
 | PASSIONERS | $9.99 | 285 62% | 8.6k | $85k (exactly $85,414) | CryoDreams Interactive | |
 | Dead Reckoning: The Long Drift | · EA | $14.99 | 174 83% | 5.2k | $78k (exactly $78,248) | Garan Lorn |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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