Do I ship it?

Games › Immersive Sim › Immersive Sim + Time Travel

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Time-Travel Immersive Sim?

Immersive Sim + Time Travel

Of 20 developers who shipped a Time-Travel 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.. 10 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 8 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $3.7k, ×2.5 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $1.8k. Revenue is down 20% on the market; 10 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.5 times the market baseline, revenue down 20% on the market, 10 announced, ×0.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Immersive Sim + Time Travel
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 20
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $27k → $6.6k → $3.0k (still earning) → $3.7k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Immersive Sim + Time Travel: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 20
Bottom 30% $1.8k (exactly $1,798)
Median $3.7k (exactly $3,748)
Top 25% $30k (exactly $30,221)
Top 5% $297k (exactly $297,218)
Developers, 2 yr 20
Released games 45
Announced 10
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 down 20% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 20%, 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
Time Travel
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
8 / 10 · online systems, open world
Systems
Immersive Sim; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Choices Matter, Simulation, Adventure
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $20.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Anime, Atmospheric
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $20.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 87% positive over 1,783 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $1.8k, median $3.7k, 1 in 4 over $30k, 1 in 20 over $290k.

3 in 10 developers made under $1.8k. 8 in 10 of the 11 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 10 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Immersive Sim with a different setting or mood, 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

Depersonalization 2024 · $3.6M Seedsow Lullaby 2024 · $297k My Fav Chill Streamer Dies a Million Times｜ゆるゆる生配信する推しは100万回死ぬ 2026 · $120k Carpet Cleaning Simulator 2026 · $107k BRINK Traveler 2021 · $85k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Depersonalization older $19.99 6,041 92% 181k $3.6M (exactly $3,622,788) MeowNature
Seedsow Lullaby $20.99 472 97% 14k $297k (exactly $297,218) iMel Inc.
My Fav Chill Streamer Dies a Million Times｜ゆるゆる生配信する推しは100万回死ぬ $34.99 114 92% 3.4k $120k (exactly $119,666) VELUX STUDIO
Carpet Cleaning Simulator $6.99 508 87% 15k $107k (exactly $106,528) daimaGAME
BRINK Traveler older $14.99 188 87% 5.6k $85k (exactly $84,544) BRINK XR
Time Space Rebuild $4.99 377 76% 11k $56k (exactly $56,437) INNOVATION DREAM
Chupa Chupa VR older $10.99 121 90% 3.6k $40k (exactly $39,894) kan.kikuchi
Love starts again $15.99 63 71% 1.9k $30k (exactly $30,221) WWWave Corporation
Date Z older $14.99 63 61% 1.9k $28k (exactly $28,331) Mass Creation
糟糕，我要坠入爱河啦！ older $7.99 113 87% 3.4k $27k (exactly $27,086) 南京玖飞麟网络科技有限公司
火起雪中寺 $10.99 59 77% 1.8k $19k (exactly $19,452) 江湖奇事录
Hank: Drowning On Dry Land $2.99 140 95% 4.2k $13k (exactly $12,558) My Next Games
Breadbox $11.99 34 97% 1.0k $12k (exactly $12,230) Bitfall
My Future Wife (InsanErotica) · EA $19.99 11 63% 330 $6.6k (exactly $6,597) InsanErotica
Macht: Cosmic Engine · EA $24.99 5 80% 150 $3.7k (exactly $3,748) Kestro Games

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