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Should I ship an Investigation Walking Simulator?
Walking Simulator + Investigation
Of 241 developers who shipped an Investigation Walking Simulator 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.. 332 more are announced, ×2.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.5k, ×3.1 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $540; 1 in 20 cleared $140k, ×308 the market median. Revenue is up 20% on the market; 332 games are announced against 145 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $539 (exactly $539) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.5k (exactly $1,468) |
| Top 25% | $8.1k (exactly $8,095) |
| Top 5% | $146k (exactly $146,457) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 241 |
| Released games | 589 |
| Announced | 332 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $4.99 |
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 20% on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 12%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Walking Simulator
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Investigation
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Walking Simulator, Investigation; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration, Puzzle
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 7 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, Atmospheric, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 86% positive over 8,081 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $540. 8 in 10 of the 123 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 332 games are announced against 145 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Walking Simulator with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + WarFair
- + RomanceFair
- + Escape RoomFair
- + ThrillerFair
- + MusicFair
- + SupernaturalFair
- + Psychological HorrorFair
- + PsychologicalFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Mystery DungeonFair
- + NoirFair
Comparable games
The Forgotten City 2021 · $8.4M 
Blair Witch 2019 · $5.8M 
Nobody Wants to Die 2024 · $4.4M 
Killer Frequency 2023 · $3.8M 
The Painscreek Killings 2017 · $3.5M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | The Forgotten City | older | $24.99 | 11,159 96% | 335k | $8.4M (exactly $8,365,902) | Modern Storyteller |
| | Blair Witch | older | $29.99 | 6,489 78% | 195k | $5.8M (exactly $5,838,153) | Bloober Team SA |
| | Nobody Wants to Die | older | $24.99 | 5,818 83% | 175k | $4.4M (exactly $4,361,755) | Critical Hit Games |
| | Killer Frequency | older | $24.99 | 5,131 93% | 154k | $3.8M (exactly $3,846,711) | Team17 |
| | The Painscreek Killings | older | $19.99 | 5,784 90% | 174k | $3.5M (exactly $3,468,665) | EQ Studios |
 | Riven | older | $34.99 | 2,764 92% | 83k | $2.9M (exactly $2,901,371) | Cyan Worlds, Inc. |
 | Quern - Undying Thoughts | older | $24.99 | 3,812 90% | 114k | $2.9M (exactly $2,857,856) | Zadbox Entertainment |
 | Call of the Sea | older | $19.99 | 4,535 87% | 136k | $2.7M (exactly $2,719,640) | Out of the Blue Games |
 | Lust from Beyond | older | $19.99 | 4,057 81% | 122k | $2.4M (exactly $2,432,983) | Movie Games Lunarium |
 | This Bed We Made | older | $24.99 | 3,187 90% | 96k | $2.4M (exactly $2,389,294) | Lowbirth Games |
 | Dreamcore | $17.99 | 1,879 89% | 56k | $1.0M (exactly $1,014,096) | Montraluz | |
 | Dimhaven - The Lost Source | $25.99 | 945 87% | 28k | $737k (exactly $736,816) | Zadbox Entertainment | |
 | Amerzone - The Explorer's Legacy | $39.99 | 526 90% | 16k | $631k (exactly $631,042) | Microids Studio Paris | |
 | Cybernetic Fault | $14.99 | 679 78% | 20k | $305k (exactly $305,346) | Whale Rock Games | |
 | Dread Flats | $5.99 | 1,453 83% | 44k | $261k (exactly $261,104) | Ghostcase | |
 | The Lightkeeper | $7.99 | 1,081 81% | 32k | $259k (exactly $259,116) | Darkphobia Games | |
 | DYSTHANASIA | $24.99 | 334 88% | 10k | $250k (exactly $250,400) | Madowaku Kobo | |
 | Call of the Elder Gods | $24.99 | 313 89% | 9.4k | $235k (exactly $234,656) | Out of the Blue Games | |
 | The Skin Stapler | $14.99 | 457 90% | 14k | $206k (exactly $205,513) | Tainted Pact | |
 | Radiolight | $14.99 | 414 90% | 12k | $186k (exactly $186,176) | Krystof Knesl |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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