Games › Immersive Sim › Immersive Sim + Time Manipulation
Should I ship a Time Manipulation Immersive Sim?
Immersive Sim + Time Manipulation
Of 23 developers who shipped a Time Manipulation 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.. 44 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 $400, ×0.3 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $120. 44 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 per shipper, while revenue is up 260% on the market.
| Bottom 30% | $120 (exactly $120) |
|---|---|
| Median | $395 (exactly $395) |
| Top 25% | $2.2k (exactly $2,158) |
| Top 5% | $41k (exactly $40,923) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 23 |
| Released games | 73 |
| Announced | 44 |
| Effort | 8 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $3.29 |
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 260% on the market, supply 80% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 8%, 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
- Time Manipulation
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 8 / 10 · online systems, open world
- Systems
- Immersive Sim, Time Manipulation; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration, Action
- Price point
- $3.29 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $3.29.
The top 10 games average 93% positive over 1,990 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $120. 9 in 10 of the 14 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 44 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 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
DEATHLOOP 2021 · $36M 
F1® Manager 2024 2024 · $5.8M 
NUTS 2021 · $663k 
Metro Simulator 2 2023 · $303k 
Tree Simulator 2022 2021 · $184k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | DEATHLOOP | older | $59.99 | 19,910 76% | 597k | $36M (exactly $35,832,027) | Arkane Studios |
| | F1® Manager 2024 | older | $34.99 | 5,554 83% | 167k | $5.8M (exactly $5,830,034) | Frontier Developments |
| | NUTS | older | $24.99 | 884 88% | 27k | $663k (exactly $662,735) | Joon, Pol, Muutsch, Char & Torfi |
| | Metro Simulator 2 | older | $14.99 | 674 65% | 20k | $303k (exactly $303,098) | KishMish Games |
| | Tree Simulator 2022 | older | $5.99 | 1,022 97% | 31k | $184k (exactly $183,653) | Revmatek |
 | Timeloop: Sink Again Beach | older | $11.99 | 350 90% | 11k | $126k (exactly $125,895) | Fang's Lab, Flatcoon |
 | Train World | older | $34.99 | 85 75% | 2.6k | $89k (exactly $89,224) | Turn Point Games |
 | Super Drift Blade | $6.99 | 351 94% | 11k | $74k (exactly $73,605) | Liujiajun | |
 | Hotel Giant 2 | older | $7.99 | 268 47% | 8.0k | $64k (exactly $64,240) | Enlight Software Limited, PerspectX |
 | Oasis Mission: Colony Sim | $14.99 | 91 56% | 2.7k | $41k (exactly $40,923) | Lunar pug studio | |
 | Coconut Simulator | $0.99 | 735 96% | 22k | $22k (exactly $21,830) | Dynamic Games | |
 | Coconut Simulator 2 | $0.99 | 621 96% | 19k | $18k (exactly $18,444) | Dynamic Games | |
 | Hank: Drowning On Dry Land | $2.99 | 140 95% | 4.2k | $13k (exactly $12,558) | My Next Games | |
 | Zoo Protocol | · EA | $5.99 | 29 93% | 870 | $5.2k (exactly $5,211) | WaveMood |
 | Macht: Cosmic Engine | · EA | $24.99 | 5 80% | 150 | $3.7k (exactly $3,748) | Kestro Games |
 | Spymaster | · EA | $11.99 | 6 100% | 180 | $2.2k (exactly $2,158) | InnerspaceVR |
 | Medieval Tavern Simulator | · EA | $10.99 | 6 83% | 180 | $2.0k (exactly $1,978) | Superwolf Game Studio |
 | Dino VR Experience | · EA | $9.99 | 6 33% | 180 | $1.8k (exactly $1,798) | Virtual Factory srl |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.