Games › Interactive Fiction › Interactive Fiction + Modern
Should I ship a Modern-Day Interactive Fiction?
Interactive Fiction + Modern
Of 106 developers who shipped a Modern-Day Interactive Fiction 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.. 175 more are announced, ×2.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.5k, ×5.3 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $200k, ×425 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 175 games are announced against 67 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $600 (exactly $600) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.5k (exactly $2,516) |
| Top 25% | $13k (exactly $13,174) |
| Top 5% | $202k (exactly $202,106) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 106 |
| Released games | 263 |
| Announced | 175 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| 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 flat on the market, supply 60% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 16%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Interactive Fiction
- effort 1 / 10 · high · prose plus a state machine
- Modern
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Interactive Fiction; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Visual Novel, Dating Sim, RPG
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, Emotional, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 81% positive over 53,653 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $600. 8 in 10 of the 52 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 175 games are announced against 67 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Interactive Fiction with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVFair
- + Match 3Fair
- + VampiresFair
- + SportsFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + PiratesFair
- + DrivingFair
- + DiplomacyFair
- + Perma DeathFair
- + Board GameFair
- + SnowFair
- + BuildingFair
Comparable games
Revenge on gold diggers 2025 · $9.8M 
Retirement Simulator 2022 · EA · $1.6M 
Green Hell VR 2022 · $685k 
KYOTO XANADU -the Blooming Phantom- 2026 · $665k 
极速营救 2025 · $557k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Revenge on gold diggers | $6.99 | 46,610 80% | 1.4M | $9.8M (exactly $9,774,117) | 前方工作室 | |
| | Retirement Simulator | · EA older | $13.99 | 3,757 34% | 113k | $1.6M (exactly $1,576,813) | DoubleThink Studio |
| | Green Hell VR | older | $19.99 | 1,143 57% | 34k | $685k (exactly $685,457) | Incuvo |
| | KYOTO XANADU -the Blooming Phantom- | $54.99 | 403 78% | 12k | $665k (exactly $664,829) | Nihon Falcom | |
| | 极速营救 | $9.99 | 1,860 86% | 56k | $557k (exactly $557,442) | 优映文化, 想象颗粒 | |
 | 我打不过漂亮的她们 | $10.99 | 1,111 95% | 33k | $366k (exactly $366,297) | 想象颗粒 | |
 | Blood Money: Lethal Eden | $8.99 | 1,262 91% | 38k | $340k (exactly $340,361) | 碧火互娱 | |
 | Paradise | older | $19.99 | 561 90% | 17k | $336k (exactly $336,432) | PIL/SLASH |
 | Bare Witness | older | $12.99 | 698 91% | 21k | $272k (exactly $272,011) | AlterWorlds |
 | Breaker of fatalism | $10.99 | 613 88% | 18k | $202k (exactly $202,106) | showplay entertainment | |
 | Enjoy Amoy&Sisters | $4.99 | 855 96% | 26k | $128k (exactly $127,994) | Choice Studio | |
 | 这个CEO我当定了！ | $7.99 | 462 82% | 14k | $111k (exactly $110,741) | 叁石肆两 | |
 | Afterlove EP | $19.99 | 184 90% | 5.5k | $110k (exactly $110,345) | Pikselnesia | |
 | Content King | $11.99 | 293 95% | 8.8k | $105k (exactly $105,392) | Usurper Studios |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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