Do I ship it?

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Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Word Game Immersive Sim?

Immersive Sim + Word Game

Of 56 developers who shipped a Word Game 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.. 83 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $2.1k, ×1.4 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $970k, ×651 the market median. Revenue is down 40% on the market; 83 games are announced against 28 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.4 times the market baseline, revenue down 40% on the market, 83 announced, ×3.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Immersive Sim + Word Game
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 56
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $958 → $897 → $6.0k → $1.8k → $2.8k → $7.3k → $1.4k (still earning) → $239 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Immersive Sim + Word Game: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 56
Bottom 30% $300 (exactly $300)
Median $2.1k (exactly $2,096)
Top 25% $23k (exactly $23,384)
Top 5% $975k (exactly $975,383)
Developers, 2 yr 56
Released games 126
Announced 83
Effort 8 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $4.99

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 40% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.

Free games: 17%, 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
Word Game
effort 1 / 10 · high · dictionary logic and simple UI

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
8 / 10 · online systems, open world
Systems
Immersive Sim, Word Game; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Simulation, Interactive Fiction
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, 2D, Anime
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 90% positive over 17,841 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $300, median $2.1k, 1 in 4 over $23k, 1 in 20 over $970k.

3 in 10 developers made under $300. 7 in 10 of the 33 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 83 games are announced against 28 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 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

Cyber Manhunt 2021 · $4.4M Mandate Of Heaven 2025 · $2.4M Cyber Manhunt 2: New World - The Hacking Simulator 2025 · $2.0M S4U: CITYPUNK 2011 AND LOVE PUNCH 2025 · $975k Vanity Fair: The Pursuit 2024 · $842k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Cyber Manhunt older $9.99 14,520 92% 436k $4.4M (exactly $4,351,644) Aluba Van+
Mandate Of Heaven $14.99 5,446 91% 163k $2.4M (exactly $2,449,066) 木焱工作室
Cyber Manhunt 2: New World - The Hacking Simulator $12.99 5,191 92% 156k $2.0M (exactly $2,022,933) Aluba Van+
S4U: CITYPUNK 2011 AND LOVE PUNCH $13.99 2,324 90% 70k $975k (exactly $975,383) U0U Games
Vanity Fair: The Pursuit older $6.99 4,014 87% 120k $842k (exactly $841,736) 木焱工作室
DEATH NOTE Killer Within $9.99 2,324 84% 70k $697k (exactly $696,503) Grounding Inc.
Misty Judgment $8.99 1,170 92% 35k $316k (exactly $315,549) 次元边界
Paper Bride 2 Zangling Village older $9.99 1,010 91% 30k $303k (exactly $302,697) HeartBeat Plus
CaseCracker2 older $11.99 759 90% 23k $273k (exactly $273,012) BlackRobe
Cellveillance $15.99 531 85% 16k $255k (exactly $254,721) KARMAGAME HK LIMITED
CaseCracker3 $12.99 359 84% 11k $140k (exactly $139,902) BlackRobe
重返现场：真人版 $9.99 247 78% 7.4k $74k (exactly $74,026) 欢乐不二
The Diary $15.99 142 64% 4.3k $68k (exactly $68,117) HuCang Studio, Pone Games
ChuChu $13.99 107 89% 3.2k $45k (exactly $44,908) 爱的氧气罐制作组

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