Games › Immersive Sim › Immersive Sim + Western
Should I ship a Western Immersive Sim?
Immersive Sim + Western
Only 17 developers shipped a Western 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, Saloon Simulator, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 14 more are announced.
Verdict: strong odds, for a 8 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $4.4k, ×2.9 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 7 in 10 cleared $1.8k. Revenue is up 805% on the market; 14 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year, ×1.4 per shipper.
not enough cohorts to draw
| Bottom 30% | $1.9k (exactly $1,875) |
|---|---|
| Median | $4.4k (exactly $4,404) |
| Top 25% | $33k (exactly $32,526) |
| Top 5% | $490k (exactly $489,942) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 17 |
| Released games | 34 |
| Announced | 14 |
| 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 up 805% on the market, supply 45% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 15%, 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
- Western
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 8 / 10 · online systems, open world
- Systems
- Immersive Sim; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Economy, Life Sim, Management
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $39.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Realistic, 3D, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $39.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 77% positive over 1,913 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.9k. 9 in 10 of the 8 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 14 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Immersive Sim with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Trading Card GameStrong odds
- + MinigamesStrong odds
- + BoxingStrong odds
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + Asynchronous MultiplayerFair
- + Dating SimFair
- + RomanceFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + Visual NovelFair
- + Split ScreenFair
- + Time TravelFair
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Railway Empire | older | $29.99 | 7,219 82% | 217k | $6.5M (exactly $6,494,934) | Gaming Minds Studios |
| | Weird West: Definitive Edition | older | $39.99 | 3,962 77% | 119k | $4.8M (exactly $4,753,211) | WolfEye Studios |
| | Blood West | older | $24.99 | 6,132 90% | 184k | $4.6M (exactly $4,597,160) | Hyperstrange |
| | Railway Empire 2 | older | $49.99 | 1,966 72% | 59k | $2.9M (exactly $2,948,410) | Gaming Minds Studios |
| | Saloon Simulator | · EA | $18.99 | 860 89% | 26k | $490k (exactly $489,942) | Glivi Games S.A. |
| | Railroad Corporation 2 | $39.99 | 376 69% | 11k | $451k (exactly $451,087) | Corbie Games | |
| | Deadwater Saloon | older | $19.99 | 186 63% | 5.6k | $112k (exactly $111,544) | Tanglefoot Games |
| | Wild West Supermarket Simulator | $12.99 | 168 63% | 5.0k | $65k (exactly $65,470) | SunDust | |
| | WANTED: Wild Sluts 🔞 | $14.99 | 140 68% | 4.2k | $63k (exactly $62,958) | Lewd Star | |
| | Wild West Miner Simulator | $5.99 | 181 66% | 5.4k | $33k (exactly $32,526) | Digital Melody | |
| | I Want to Believe | $16.99 | 47 80% | 1.4k | $24k (exactly $23,956) | Fang's Lab | |
| | Racket Pinball | $19.99 | 37 91% | 1.1k | $22k (exactly $22,189) | NiVision | |
| | DOOMED Detective Game | $6.99 | 65 46% | 2.0k | $14k (exactly $13,630) | Azikton Studio | |
| | Western Gun Shop Simulator | $6.99 | 21 76% | 630 | $4.4k (exactly $4,404) | Arafkan Games | |
| | Roulette Heist | $6.99 | 18 94% | 540 | $3.8k (exactly $3,775) | DreamArk Lab |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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