Do I ship it?

GamesLife SimLife Sim + Walking Simulator

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Life Sim Walking Simulator?

Life Sim + Walking Simulator

Of 126 developers who shipped a Life Sim 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.. 144 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.3k, ×2.8 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $360. Revenue is flat on the market; 144 games are announced against 76 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.8 times the market baseline, revenue flat on the market, 144 announced, ×1.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Life Sim + Walking Simulator
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 126
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $3.4k → $2.8k → $3.7k → $11k → $1.8k → $1.5k → $657 (still earning) → $1.2k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Life Sim + Walking Simulator: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 126
Bottom 30% $359 (exactly $359)
Median $1.3k (exactly $1,317)
Top 25% $13k (exactly $13,167)
Top 5% $130k (exactly $129,698)
Developers, 2 yr 126
Released games 333
Announced 144
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 flat on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 11%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Life Sim
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
Walking Simulator
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Life Sim, Walking Simulator; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Immersive Sim, Exploration
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person, Atmospheric
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 91% positive over 25,008 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $360, median $1.3k, 1 in 4 over $13k, 1 in 20 over $120k.

3 in 10 developers made under $360. 7 in 10 of the 79 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 144 games are announced against 76 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Life Sim with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + FMVStrong odds38 devs · median $54k · 21 announced
  2. + MinigamesStrong odds20 devs · median $11k · 19 announced
  3. + MusicStrong odds28 devs · median $9.2k · 20 announced
  4. + Job SimulatorFair144 devs · median $19k · 153 announced
  5. + Football (Soccer)Fair10 devs · median $10k · 16 announced
  6. + FaithFair11 devs · median $9.4k · 13 announced
  7. + Artificial IntelligenceFair92 devs · median $7.3k · 121 announced
  8. + GamblingFair28 devs · median $4.0k · 32 announced
  9. + DemonsFair16 devs · median $2.4k · 22 announced
  10. + Point & ClickFair162 devs · median $2.4k · 219 announced
  11. + LogicFair70 devs · median $1.5k · 74 announced
  12. + ZombiesFair29 devs · median $1.5k · 34 announced

All 173 pairs on the Life Sim page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

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
My Winter Car · EA $14.99 18,614 94% 558k $8.4M (exactly $8,370,716) Amistech Games
TOGETHER BnB · EA older $17.99 9,025 59% 271k $4.9M (exactly $4,870,792) AURORA Games
Streamer Life Simulator older $19.99 7,066 77% 212k $4.2M (exactly $4,237,480) Cheesecake Dev
G.O.P.O.T.A older $29.99 1,493 81% 45k $1.3M (exactly $1,343,252) VD Games, PropilGames
Shelter older $14.99 2,683 85% 80k $1.2M (exactly $1,206,545) Might and Delight
Skoof Simulator older $29.99 935 83% 28k $841k (exactly $841,220) PropilGames
Prison Escape Simulator: Dig Out $7.99 3,490 85% 105k $837k (exactly $836,553) Digital Melody
Quadrober Simulator $29.99 684 79% 21k $615k (exactly $615,395) PropilGames
PANELKI older $7.99 2,404 86% 72k $576k (exactly $576,239) Alexander Gromyko
Ranger’s Path: National Park Simulator · EA $19.99 446 76% 13k $267k (exactly $267,466) To-Go Games
Corner Kitchen Fast Food Simulator $13.99 411 85% 12k $172k (exactly $172,497) Purple Heads Games
Brno Transit $8.99 589 85% 18k $159k (exactly $158,853) Spytihněv
A Merchant's Promise · EA $14.99 300 86% 9.0k $135k (exactly $134,910) Game Draft Studio
Virtual Hunter $24.99 173 71% 5.2k $130k (exactly $129,698) Korpi Games Oy
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
Road Maintenance Simulator 2 - Winter Services $24.99 117 49% 3.5k $88k (exactly $87,715) Caipirinha Games

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.