Games › Investigation › Investigation + Robots
Should I ship a Robot Investigation game?
Investigation + Robots
Only 15 developers shipped a Robot Investigation game in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, The Talos Principle: Reawakened, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 33 more are announced, ×4.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.7k, ×2.8 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $400; 1 in 20 cleared $1.3M, ×2073 the market median. Revenue is up 95% on the market; 33 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $400 (exactly $400) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.7k (exactly $1,731) |
| Top 25% | $3.1k (exactly $3,144) |
| Top 5% | $1.3M (exactly $1,301,674) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 15 |
| Released games | 58 |
| Announced | 33 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $6.66 |
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 95% on the market, supply 15% 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.
- Investigation
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Robots
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Investigation
- Price point
- $6.66 typical
Why players buy here
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 1,243 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $400. 9 in 10 of the 10 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 33 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.1 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
The Talos Principle: Reawakened 2025 · $1.3M 
Nucleares 2023 · $504k 
Subsurface Circular 2017 · $269k 
Regular Factory: Escape Room 2022 · $63k 
Doomsday Robot Girl 2023 · $58k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | The Talos Principle: Reawakened | $39.99 | 1,085 90% | 33k | $1.3M (exactly $1,301,674) | Croteam | |
| | Nucleares | older | $14.99 | 1,121 84% | 34k | $504k (exactly $504,114) | Iván Marcelo Pretti |
| | Subsurface Circular | older | $5.99 | 1,496 94% | 45k | $269k (exactly $268,831) | Bithell Games |
| | Regular Factory: Escape Room | older | $9.99 | 210 91% | 6.3k | $63k (exactly $62,937) | mc2games |
| | Doomsday Robot Girl | older | $8.99 | 216 82% | 6.5k | $58k (exactly $58,255) | Sunspot |
 | Odysseus Kosmos and his Robot Quest (Complete Season) | older | $14.99 | 121 80% | 3.6k | $54k (exactly $54,414) | Pavel Kostin |
 | subROV : Underwater Discoveries | · EA older | $19.99 | 63 90% | 1.9k | $38k (exactly $37,781) | sqr3lab |
 | Paranormal Detective: Escape from the 80's | older | $9.99 | 82 92% | 2.5k | $25k (exactly $24,575) | LunaBeat |
 | Bot Colony | · EA older | $14.99 | 48 54% | 1.4k | $22k (exactly $21,586) | North Side Inc. |
 | INPUT6 | older | $3.99 | 160 96% | 4.8k | $19k (exactly $19,152) | GOOSTRONAUT GAMES |
 | MALPRAXIS™ | $8.99 | 35 48% | 1.1k | $9.4k (exactly $9,440) | Sunscorched Studios | |
 | The Builder - Season 2 | · EA | $10.99 | 28 57% | 840 | $9.2k (exactly $9,232) | Lewd Robotics |
 | Tale of android after the Apocalypse | $4.99 | 21 80% | 630 | $3.1k (exactly $3,144) | Team Moko App. | |
 | CINESCAPE VR | $14.99 | 5 60% | 150 | $2.2k (exactly $2,248) | SUPER AC | |
 | Sodahazard: Taste Test | $9.99 | 7 85% | 210 | $2.1k (exactly $2,098) | Mechadusto | |
 | P.I.S. | $2.99 | 21 90% | 630 | $1.9k (exactly $1,884) | STEAM STREET | |
 | Little H.O.P.E. | $1.99 | 29 100% | 870 | $1.7k (exactly $1,731) | Forja Umbra | |
 | Artificial Nexus | $9.99 | 5 100% | 150 | $1.5k (exactly $1,498) | Too Many Teeth Studios | |
 | FOCUS | $3.99 | 7 42% | 210 | $838 (exactly $838) | kuma-hacker |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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