Games › Walking Simulator › Walking Simulator + LGBTQ+
Should I ship an LGBTQ+ Walking Simulator?
Walking Simulator + LGBTQ+
Of 29 developers who shipped an LGBTQ+ 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.. 45 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 $11k, ×24 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $3.6k; 1 in 20 cleared $410k, ×867 the market median. Revenue is up 270% on the market; 45 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $3.6k (exactly $3,596) |
|---|---|
| Median | $11k (exactly $11,332) |
| Top 25% | $30k (exactly $30,107) |
| Top 5% | $412k (exactly $411,974) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 29 |
| Released games | 96 |
| Announced | 45 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 270% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 19%, 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
- LGBTQ+
- effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Walking Simulator; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration, Interactive Fiction
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, Atmospheric, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 90% positive over 12,940 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $3.6k. 8 in 10 of the 21 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 45 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Walking Simulator with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + WarFair
- + RomanceFair
- + Escape RoomFair
- + ThrillerFair
- + MusicFair
- + SupernaturalFair
- + Psychological HorrorFair
- + PsychologicalFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Mystery DungeonFair
- + NoirFair
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Life is Strange: Before the Storm | older | $16.99 | 33,504 93% | 1.0M | $17M (exactly $17,076,989) | Deck Nine, Feral Interactive (Mac), Fer… (Deck Nine, Feral Interactive (Mac), Feral Interactive (Linux)) |
| | Gone Home | older | $14.99 | 13,619 77% | 409k | $6.1M (exactly $6,124,464) | Fullbright |
| | Mixtape | $19.99 | 7,365 87% | 221k | $4.4M (exactly $4,416,790) | Beethoven and Dinosaur | |
| | LOST EMBER | older | $29.99 | 4,198 87% | 126k | $3.8M (exactly $3,776,941) | Mooneye Studios |
| | Lake | older | $19.99 | 4,484 87% | 135k | $2.7M (exactly $2,689,055) | Gamious |
| | This Bed We Made | older | $24.99 | 3,187 90% | 96k | $2.4M (exactly $2,389,294) | Lowbirth Games |
| | Tacoma | older | $19.99 | 3,099 87% | 93k | $1.9M (exactly $1,858,470) | Fullbright |
| | Lust for Darkness | older | $14.99 | 3,980 68% | 119k | $1.8M (exactly $1,789,806) | Movie Games Lunarium |
| | Where the Water Tastes Like Wine | older | $19.99 | 1,425 76% | 43k | $855k (exactly $854,572) | Dim Bulb Games, Serenity Forge |
| | Always Sometimes Monsters | older | $9.99 | 1,387 79% | 42k | $416k (exactly $415,684) | Vagabond Dog |
| | CARIMARA: Beneath the forlorn limbs | $4.99 | 2,752 96% | 83k | $412k (exactly $411,974) | Bastinus Rex | |
| | GIRLS MADE PUDDING | $9.99 | 866 95% | 26k | $260k (exactly $259,540) | Kazuhide Oka | |
| | Ambrosia Sky | $24.99 | 267 89% | 8.0k | $200k (exactly $200,170) | Soft Rains, Blackbird Interactive | |
| | PROXIMATE | $5.99 | 953 93% | 29k | $171k (exactly $171,254) | Cain Maddox | |
| | LOST EMBER: Rekindled Edition | $29.99 | 101 77% | 3.0k | $91k (exactly $90,870) | Mooneye Studios | |
| | Project Songbird | $14.99 | 195 85% | 5.9k | $88k (exactly $87,692) | FYRE Games, Conner Rush | |
| | 贝如塔医院 Beta Hospital | $2.78 | 361 83% | 11k | $30k (exactly $30,107) | 逃跑灵羊工作室 | |
| | Future? No Thanks! | $19.99 | 47 100% | 1.4k | $28k (exactly $28,186) | Molleindustria | |
| | The Quiet Things | $24.99 | 33 78% | 990 | $25k (exactly $24,740) | Silver Script Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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