Games › Stealth › Stealth + Life Sim
Should I ship a Life Sim Stealth game?
Stealth + Life Sim
Of 25 developers who shipped a Life Sim Stealth 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.. 58 more are announced, ×3.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.9k, ×3.1 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $680k, ×1095 the market median. Revenue is up 180% on the market; 58 games are announced against 17 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $599 (exactly $599) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.9k (exactly $1,946) |
| Top 25% | $43k (exactly $42,857) |
| Top 5% | $688k (exactly $687,856) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 25 |
| Released games | 62 |
| Announced | 58 |
| Effort | 6 / 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 180% on the market, supply 90% 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.
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Stealth, Life Sim; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Action, Immersive Sim
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, 3D, Realistic
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 84% positive over 13,135 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $600. 6 in 10 of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 58 games are announced against 17 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.4 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Stealth with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + JRPGFair
- + World War IIPoor odds
- + LGBTQ+Poor odds
- + Turn-Based CombatPoor odds
- + WargamePoor odds
- + DinosaursPoor odds
- + Gun CustomizationPoor odds
- + Base BuildingPoor odds
- + Cold WarPoor odds
- + HistoricalPoor odds
- + MilitaryPoor odds
- + WarPoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Crime Scene Cleaner | older | $29.99 | 32,469 98% | 974k | $29M (exactly $29,212,359) | President Studio |
| | Crime Simulator | $14.99 | 6,244 82% | 187k | $2.8M (exactly $2,807,927) | CookieDev | |
| | Used Cars Simulator | · EA | $19.99 | 1,147 79% | 34k | $688k (exactly $687,856) | DreamWay Games |
| | Anonymous Hacker Simulator | older | $19.99 | 741 85% | 22k | $444k (exactly $444,378) | Sicarius |
| | Hard Time III | older | $14.99 | 929 85% | 28k | $418k (exactly $417,771) | MDickie |
| | ORDER 13 | $8.99 | 1,224 87% | 37k | $330k (exactly $330,113) | Cybernetic Walrus | |
| | SchoolBoy Runaway | $1.99 | 3,731 90% | 112k | $223k (exactly $222,741) | Linked Squad | |
| | Sex Trainer's Diary: Hidden Kink | $19.99 | 184 70% | 5.5k | $110k (exactly $110,345) | 老二打鐵舖, 072 Localize, NOVA CONCEPT | |
| | Embarrassed Shina-chan~ the Naked Wandering College Girl | older | $19.99 | 167 60% | 5.0k | $100k (exactly $100,150) | かわいそうなのは抜ける |
| | SERIES MAKERS TYCOON | older | $4.99 | 514 71% | 15k | $77k (exactly $76,946) | CREW Studio Krüger UG |
| | ZOMBUTCHER: Monster Business Simulator | $12.99 | 135 69% | 4.1k | $53k (exactly $52,610) | ODIUS | |
| | Medic: Pacific War | · EA | $9.99 | 143 70% | 4.3k | $43k (exactly $42,857) | Hypnotic Ants |
| | The Brewline | $9.99 | 110 84% | 3.3k | $33k (exactly $32,967) | Alcora Games | |
| | The Sushi House | $4.99 | 102 81% | 3.1k | $15k (exactly $15,269) | Noirbit | |
| | Mushroom Simulator Co-op | $2.99 | 115 91% | 3.5k | $10k (exactly $10,316) | Nimble Starship |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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