Do I ship it?

Games › Procedural Generation › Procedural Generation + Investigation

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Procedural Generation Investigation game?

Procedural Generation + Investigation

Of 38 developers who shipped a Procedural Generation Investigation game 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.. 66 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $1.7k, ×3.5 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $750; 1 in 20 cleared $7.0M, ×14844 the market median. Revenue is up 215% on the market; 66 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.5 times the market baseline, revenue up 215% on the market, 66 announced, ×2.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Procedural Generation + Investigation
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 38
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $7.5k → $748 → $5.7k → $959 → $2.1k (still earning) → $2.0k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Procedural Generation + Investigation: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 38
Bottom 30% $748 (exactly $748)
Median $1.7k (exactly $1,678)
Top 25% $3.4k (exactly $3,418)
Top 5% $7.1M (exactly $7,050,949)
Developers, 2 yr 38
Released games 68
Announced 66
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 up 215% on the market, supply 70% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 4%, 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
Investigation
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

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, Investigation; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Exploration, Choices Matter
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Atmospheric, First-Person
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 94% positive over 310,270 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $750, median $1.7k, 1 in 4 over $3.4k, 1 in 20 over $7.0M.

3 in 10 developers made under $750. 9 in 10 of the 14 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 66 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 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

PEAK 2025 · $72M Content Warning 2024 · $17M The Precinct 2025 · $7.1M The Classrooms 2022 · EA · $1.2M Remnant Records 2024 · $201k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
PEAK $7.99 301,964 94% 9.1M $72M (exactly $72,380,771) Team PEAK
Content Warning older $7.99 72,444 93% 2.2M $17M (exactly $17,364,827) Zorro, Wilnyl, Philip, thePetHen, Skog
The Precinct $29.99 7,837 87% 235k $7.1M (exactly $7,050,949) Fallen Tree Games Ltd
The Classrooms · EA older $12.99 3,040 89% 91k $1.2M (exactly $1,184,688) Xefier Games, Hillcrest Games Inc.
Remnant Records older $15.99 419 79% 13k $201k (exactly $200,994) Noctiluca Studio
Vaudeville $19.99 283 48% 8.5k $170k (exactly $169,715) Bumblebee Studios
Doki Doki AI Interrogation older $3.49 485 81% 15k $51k (exactly $50,780) YAMADA
Murderous Muses older $13.99 71 74% 2.1k $30k (exactly $29,799) D'Avekki Studios Ltd
Bounty Trail $6.99 84 52% 2.5k $18k (exactly $17,615) September Games
The Detective Reaper Invites older $9.99 58 37% 1.7k $17k (exactly $17,383) SHIZU KANO UMI
Galactum Meridian · EA $19.99 14 14% 420 $8.4k (exactly $8,396) Hedra Games
Seclusion · EA $9.99 19 68% 570 $5.7k (exactly $5,694) Forgeworks Studio
SusDoku: Clues & Suspects $4.99 37 35% 1.1k $5.5k (exactly $5,539) MyNeuronal
Spectator 3 $12.99 11 90% 330 $4.3k (exactly $4,287) Neko Machine, Minechan
Detective 26 $7.62 15 80% 450 $3.4k (exactly $3,429) TestOneDev
Unseen Diplomacy 2 $18.99 6 83% 180 $3.4k (exactly $3,418) Triangular Pixels

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