Games › Walking Simulator › Walking Simulator + Lovecraftian
Should I ship a Lovecraftian Walking Simulator?
Walking Simulator + Lovecraftian
Of 53 developers who shipped a Lovecraftian 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.. 83 more are announced, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $5.7k, ×12 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.8k; 1 in 20 cleared $230k, ×494 the market median. Revenue is up 465% on the market; 83 games are announced against 27 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.8k (exactly $1,752) |
|---|---|
| Median | $5.7k (exactly $5,689) |
| Top 25% | $22k (exactly $21,578) |
| Top 5% | $235k (exactly $234,656) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 53 |
| Released games | 145 |
| Announced | 83 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| 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 465% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 15%, 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
- Lovecraftian
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Walking Simulator; 9 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration, Puzzle
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, First-Person, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 6,267 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.8k. 8 in 10 of the 30 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 83 games are announced against 27 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 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
SOMA 2015 · $42M 
What Remains of Edith Finch 2017 · $28M 
Scorn 2022 · $22M 
Amnesia: The Dark Descent 2010 · $12M 
Still Wakes the Deep 2024 · $12M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | SOMA | older | $29.99 | 46,772 95% | 1.4M | $42M (exactly $42,080,768) | Frictional Games |
| | What Remains of Edith Finch | older | $19.99 | 47,036 95% | 1.4M | $28M (exactly $28,207,489) | Giant Sparrow |
| | Scorn | older | $49.99 | 14,546 77% | 436k | $22M (exactly $21,814,636) | Ebb Software |
| | Amnesia: The Dark Descent | older | $19.99 | 20,420 95% | 613k | $12M (exactly $12,245,874) | Frictional Games |
| | Still Wakes the Deep | older | $34.99 | 11,213 87% | 336k | $12M (exactly $11,770,286) | The Chinese Room |
 | Layers of Fear (2016) | older | $19.99 | 13,172 89% | 395k | $7.9M (exactly $7,899,248) | Bloober Team SA |
 | Call of Cthulhu® | older | $19.99 | 10,962 79% | 329k | $6.6M (exactly $6,573,911) | Cyanide Studio |
 | Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs | older | $19.99 | 7,236 69% | 217k | $4.3M (exactly $4,339,429) | The Chinese Room |
 | The Vanishing of Ethan Carter | older | $19.99 | 6,862 87% | 206k | $4.1M (exactly $4,115,141) | The Astronauts |
 | Observation | older | $24.99 | 4,590 78% | 138k | $3.4M (exactly $3,441,123) | Screen Burn |
 | Eclipsium | $12.99 | 3,306 91% | 99k | $1.3M (exactly $1,288,348) | Housefire | |
 | Necrophosis | $15.99 | 722 89% | 22k | $346k (exactly $346,343) | Dragonis Ares, Adonis Brosteanu | |
 | Call of the Elder Gods | $24.99 | 313 89% | 9.4k | $235k (exactly $234,656) | Out of the Blue Games | |
 | Junji Ito Maniac: An Infinite Gaol | $11.99 | 629 78% | 19k | $226k (exactly $226,251) | SOFTSTAR ENTERTAINMENT | |
 | BLACKSHARD | $14.99 | 432 91% | 13k | $194k (exactly $194,270) | Redlock Studio, Enclave | |
 | 10 Dead Doves | $24.99 | 195 88% | 5.9k | $146k (exactly $146,192) | Duonix Studios, Mark Byram II, Sean-Mic… (Duonix Studios, Mark Byram II, Sean-Michael Millard) | |
 | Below, Rusted Gods | $7.99 | 320 87% | 9.6k | $77k (exactly $76,704) | FromSouthGames | |
 | Chorus of Carcosa | $11.99 | 178 73% | 5.3k | $64k (exactly $64,027) | Chameleon 42 | |
 | HYPNOS | · EA | $19.90 | 88 95% | 2.6k | $53k (exactly $52,536) | Redlock Studio |
 | Cosmic Fear | $19.99 | 84 80% | 2.5k | $50k (exactly $50,375) | Alessandro Guzzo |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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