Do I ship it?

Games › Procedural Generation › Procedural Generation + Interactive Fiction

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Procedural Generation Interactive Fiction?

Procedural Generation + Interactive Fiction

Of 23 developers who shipped a Procedural Generation 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.. 47 more are announced, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $270, ×0.6 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $60. 47 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 per shipper, while revenue is up 100% on the market.

Deciding numbers: median 0.6 times the market baseline, revenue up 100% on the market, 47 announced, ×3.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Procedural Generation + Interactive Fiction
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 23
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $14k → $11k → $1.3k → $269 → $299 → $538 (still earning) → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Procedural Generation + Interactive Fiction: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 23
Bottom 30% $60 (exactly $60)
Median $269 (exactly $269)
Top 25% $2.0k (exactly $2,035)
Top 5% $53k (exactly $53,347)
Developers, 2 yr 23
Released games 54
Announced 47
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $5.99

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 100% on the market, supply 90% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 9%, 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 medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Procedural Generation
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
Interactive Fiction
effort 1 / 10 · high · prose plus a state machine

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Procedural Generation, Interactive Fiction; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Sandbox, Exploration
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, Dialogue Heavy, First-Person
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 60% positive over 589 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $60, median $270, 1 in 4 over $2.0k, 1 in 20 over $53k.

3 in 10 developers made under $60. All of the 8 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 47 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Procedural Generation with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + SnowFair11 devs · median $3.0k · 16 announced
  2. + Traditional RoguelikeFair71 devs · median $2.0k · 93 announced
  3. + DetectiveFair29 devs · median $1.5k · 30 announced
  4. + Word GameFair22 devs · median $1.3k · 23 announced
  5. + TypingFair26 devs · median $1.1k · 11 announced
  6. + IdlerFair98 devs · median $807 · 107 announced
  7. + LogicFair137 devs · median $478 · 149 announced
  8. + Walking SimulatorFair57 devs · median $449 · 62 announced
  9. + Precision PlatformerFair49 devs · median $449 · 42 announced
  10. + Hidden ObjectFair58 devs · median $418 · 56 announced
  11. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds31 devs · median $77k · 95 announced
  12. + TrainsPoor odds22 devs · median $30k · 35 announced

All 222 pairs on the Procedural Generation page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Road 96 🛣️ 2021 · $13M The Fermi Paradox 2021 · EA · $545k AI Roguelite 2023 · $268k Vaudeville 2025 · $170k Life Eater 2024 · $148k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Road 96 🛣️ older $19.96 22,118 91% 664k $13M (exactly $13,244,258) Digixart
The Fermi Paradox · EA older $18.99 956 76% 29k $545k (exactly $544,633) Anomaly Games
AI Roguelite older $14.99 597 83% 18k $268k (exactly $268,471) Max Loh
Vaudeville $19.99 283 48% 8.5k $170k (exactly $169,715) Bumblebee Studios
Life Eater older $14.99 330 86% 9.9k $148k (exactly $148,401) Strange Scaffold
MareQuest: An Interactive Tail older $4.99 360 98% 11k $54k (exactly $53,892) ElectroKaplosion LLC
Saga & Seeker $9.99 178 57% 5.3k $53k (exactly $53,347) Dagdoria Studio
Doki Doki AI Interrogation older $3.49 485 81% 15k $51k (exactly $50,780) YAMADA
DREAMIO: AI-Powered Adventures older $9.99 169 86% 5.1k $51k (exactly $50,649) Oleg Skutte
Tales from The Dancing Moon $17.99 34 88% 1.0k $18k (exactly $18,350) DjMonkey
Seclusion · EA $9.99 19 68% 570 $5.7k (exactly $5,694) Forgeworks Studio
Wild Script: Nature · EA $4.99 16 93% 480 $2.4k (exactly $2,395) Surdarium
Gion Corridor $3.99 17 100% 510 $2.0k (exactly $2,035) Burg Game Studio
SCREAM you LOSE $5.99 10 90% 300 $1.8k (exactly $1,797) Burg Game Studio
she danced in the wind like a holographic dream before the world died $1.99 25 96% 750 $1.5k (exactly $1,492) alienmelon
Regret To Inform $2.99 6 100% 180 $538 (exactly $538) Slightly Concerning
Bloodweight $14.99 1 0% 30 $450 (exactly $450) adarkfable

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