Games › Investigation › Investigation + Psychological
Should I ship a Psychological Investigation game?
Investigation + Psychological
Of 221 developers who shipped a Psychological 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.. 379 more are announced, ×2.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.6k, ×3.5 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $100k, ×216 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 379 games are announced against 130 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $449 (exactly $449) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.6k (exactly $1,647) |
| Top 25% | $9.0k (exactly $8,982) |
| Top 5% | $103k (exactly $102,532) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 221 |
| Released games | 494 |
| Announced | 379 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| 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 flat on the market, supply 35% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 10%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Investigation
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Psychological
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Investigation; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, Story Rich, Dark
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 89% positive over 10,605 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $450. 9 in 10 of the 107 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 379 games are announced against 130 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Investigation with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Escape RoomFair
- + IdlerFair
- + TriviaLong shot
- + LGBTQ+Poor odds
- + JRPGPoor odds
- + HistoricalPoor odds
- + RomancePoor odds
- + GothicPoor odds
- + LovecraftianPoor odds
- + Dating SimPoor odds
- + Card GamePoor odds
- + SciencePoor odds
Comparable games
Blair Witch 2019 · $5.8M 
Sherlock Holmes Chapter One 2021 · $5.7M 
Nobody Wants to Die 2024 · $4.4M 
BURIED STARS 2021 · $2.5M 
SONG OF HORROR COMPLETE EDITION 2019 · $1.7M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Blair Witch | older | $29.99 | 6,489 78% | 195k | $5.8M (exactly $5,838,153) | Bloober Team SA |
| | Sherlock Holmes Chapter One | older | $44.99 | 4,189 77% | 126k | $5.7M (exactly $5,653,893) | Frogwares |
| | Nobody Wants to Die | older | $24.99 | 5,818 83% | 175k | $4.4M (exactly $4,361,755) | Critical Hit Games |
| | BURIED STARS | older | $39.99 | 2,117 83% | 64k | $2.5M (exactly $2,539,765) | LINE Games Corporation |
| | SONG OF HORROR COMPLETE EDITION | older | $29.99 | 1,932 80% | 58k | $1.7M (exactly $1,738,220) | Protocol Games |
 | The Test | older | $1.99 | 19,599 96% | 588k | $1.2M (exactly $1,170,060) | Randumb Studios |
 | 7 Days to End with You | older | $7.99 | 3,327 87% | 100k | $797k (exactly $797,482) | Lizardry |
 | Feign | $4.99 | 5,270 91% | 158k | $789k (exactly $788,919) | Teneke Kafalar | |
 | Murder House | older | $11.99 | 2,094 95% | 63k | $753k (exactly $753,212) | Puppet Combo |
 | Cats and the Other Lives | older | $19.99 | 1,089 91% | 33k | $653k (exactly $653,073) | Cultic Games |
 | Demons' Timeline | $10.99 | 1,046 97% | 31k | $345k (exactly $344,866) | DigitalCats | |
 | Mindlock - The Apartment | $14.99 | 629 95% | 19k | $283k (exactly $282,861) | Roof Cut Media | |
 | The Lightkeeper | $7.99 | 1,081 81% | 32k | $259k (exactly $259,116) | Darkphobia Games | |
 | Forensics: Crime Scene Detective | $24.99 | 288 62% | 8.6k | $216k (exactly $215,914) | Binary Impact, Alchemical Works | |
 | WE ARE SO DEAD | · EA | $7.99 | 672 73% | 20k | $161k (exactly $161,078) | REAL PLAYERS |
 | I'm on Observation Duty 7 | $11.99 | 426 93% | 13k | $153k (exactly $153,232) | Notovia, Dreamloop Games | |
 | Sister Ray | $11.99 | 410 95% | 12k | $147k (exactly $147,477) | The Growing Stones | |
 | Aurora Hills: Chapter 2 | $7.99 | 533 98% | 16k | $128k (exactly $127,760) | NovaSoft Interactive Ltd. | |
 | Gensokyo：Presumption of Guilt~Pansies Before Dawn | $14.99 | 250 92% | 7.5k | $112k (exactly $112,425) | 戏壤游戏(Xirang Games) |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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