Do I ship it?

GamesLootLoot + Physics

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Loot Physics game?

Loot + Physics

Of 68 developers who shipped a Loot Physics 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.. 140 more are announced, ×2.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $2.0k, ×3.2 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $900; 1 in 20 cleared $550k, ×880 the market median. Revenue is up 90% on the market; 140 games are announced against 49 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.2 times the market baseline, revenue up 90% on the market, 140 announced, ×2.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Loot + Physics
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 68
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $31k → $599 → $152k → $4.1k → $1.1k → $4.8k → $2.7k (still earning) → $1.9k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Loot + Physics: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 68
Bottom 30% $898 (exactly $898)
Median $2.0k (exactly $2,035)
Top 25% $24k (exactly $23,696)
Top 5% $553k (exactly $552,946)
Developers, 2 yr 68
Released games 113
Announced 140
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $6.99

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 90% on the market, supply 160% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 8%, 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 low: the lowest rating among its tags.

Loot
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Physics
effort 5 / 10 · low · emergent simulation bugs need hands-on tuning

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Loot, Physics; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Exploration, Action, Adventure
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, Atmospheric, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 86% positive over 31,500 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $900, median $2.0k, 1 in 4 over $23k, 1 in 20 over $550k.

3 in 10 developers made under $900. 8 in 10 of the 22 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 140 games are announced against 49 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Artificial IntelligenceStrong odds28 devs · median $19k · 22 announced
  2. + Local Co-OpStrong odds22 devs · median $7.3k · 21 announced
  3. + SteampunkStrong odds7 devs · median $2.2k · 10 announced
  4. + CapitalismFair36 devs · median $14k · 52 announced
  5. + Turn-Based StrategyFair86 devs · median $6.3k · 97 announced
  6. + JRPGFair34 devs · median $5.5k · 41 announced
  7. + EconomyFair74 devs · median $4.6k · 114 announced
  8. + IdlerFair181 devs · median $4.5k · 256 announced
  9. + CatsFair17 devs · median $3.4k · 24 announced
  10. + IncrementalFair145 devs · median $2.9k · 236 announced
  11. + Creature CollectorFair51 devs · median $2.9k · 67 announced
  12. + CollectathonFair90 devs · median $1.9k · 95 announced

All 159 pairs on the Loot page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
A Game About Digging A Hole™ $4.99 18,785 89% 564k $2.8M (exactly $2,812,114) DoubleBee
Burglin' Gnomes $9.99 4,635 83% 139k $1.4M (exactly $1,389,110) Fobri
Lay of the Land $19.99 1,190 79% 36k $714k (exactly $713,643) Southern Cross Interactive
GRAIN ROT $9.99 1,845 88% 55k $553k (exactly $552,946) Beck & Branch Games
My Wife Threw Out My Card Collection (So I Bought a Dump to Find Them All) ⭐ $7.95 1,601 65% 48k $382k (exactly $381,838) Polnoch
YEAH! YOU WANT "THOSE GAMES," RIGHT? SO HERE YOU GO! NOW, LET'S SEE YOU CLEAR THEM! older $9.99 1,268 71% 38k $380k (exactly $380,020) MONKEYCRAFT Co. Ltd.
Coin Pusher Casino older $12.50 950 84% 29k $356k (exactly $356,250) TreeNutsGames
Meltopia $6.99 1,679 85% 50k $352k (exactly $352,086) Garden of Dreams
Strayed · EA older $14.99 402 76% 12k $181k (exactly $180,779) Crustacean Interactive
Coin Push RPG $9.99 584 76% 18k $175k (exactly $175,025) RAmen
Pirates VR: Jolly Roger $19.99 212 76% 6.4k $127k (exactly $127,136) Split Light Studio
Meowgic $7.99 462 79% 14k $111k (exactly $110,741) Lazy Turtle Games
Smash Hit Museum $6.99 507 85% 15k $106k (exactly $106,318) InIt Games

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