Do I ship it?

GamesSimulationSimulation + Ninja

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Ninja Simulation game?

Simulation + Ninja

Only 15 developers shipped a Ninja Simulation game in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Fight School Simulator, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 12 more are announced, ×2.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $630, level with the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $68k, ×108 the market median. Revenue is down 45% on the market; 12 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.0 times the market baseline, revenue down 45% on the market, 12 announced, ×2.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Simulation + Ninja
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 15
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $16k → $1.5k → $2.5k → $539 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Simulation + Ninja: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 15
Bottom 30% $449 (exactly $449)
Median $629 (exactly $629)
Top 25% $2.5k (exactly $2,507)
Top 5% $68k (exactly $68,032)
Developers, 2 yr 15
Released games 63
Announced 12
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $5.99

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 down 45% on the market, supply 50% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 14%, 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.

Simulation
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Ninja
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Simulation; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Character Customization
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Cute, Pixel Graphics
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 85% positive over 454 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $450, median $630, 1 in 4 over $2.5k, 1 in 20 over $68k.

3 in 10 developers made under $450. 9 in 10 of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 12 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Simulation with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + FMVStrong odds150 devs · median $55k · 81 announced
  2. + Escape RoomStrong odds36 devs · median $3.6k · 26 announced
  3. + World War IFair23 devs · median $32k · 32 announced
  4. + Job SimulatorFair285 devs · median $12k · 362 announced
  5. + LGBTQ+Fair272 devs · median $9.7k · 303 announced
  6. + PinballFair27 devs · median $8.2k · 28 announced
  7. + Female ProtagonistFair672 devs · median $5.1k · 754 announced
  8. + BirdsFair19 devs · median $3.8k · 16 announced
  9. + Artificial IntelligenceFair387 devs · median $3.0k · 490 announced
  10. + MusicFair81 devs · median $3.0k · 92 announced
  11. + Auto BattlerFair219 devs · median $2.5k · 293 announced
  12. + ProgrammingFair132 devs · median $2.2k · 174 announced

All 287 pairs on the Simulation page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Fallen Shinobi SS. older $14.99 971 92% 29k $437k (exactly $436,659) marron☆marron
Fruit Ninja VR older $14.99 801 80% 24k $360k (exactly $360,210) Halfbrick Studios Pty Ltd
Ninja Village older $8.99 546 93% 16k $147k (exactly $147,256) Kairosoft Co.,Ltd
NEKO-NIN exHeart 2 older $9.99 279 95% 8.4k $84k (exactly $83,616) Whirlpool
NOBUNAGA'S AMBITION: Soutenroku with Power Up Kit older $29.99 85 62% 2.6k $76k (exactly $76,474) KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD.
Fight School Simulator $9.99 227 88% 6.8k $68k (exactly $68,032) Queen
Tricking 0 · EA older $19.99 107 89% 3.2k $64k (exactly $64,168) Full-in Studios
Ninja Tycoon older $4.99 350 69% 11k $52k (exactly $52,395) Endless Loop Studios
Pro Gymnast Simulator older $14.99 105 92% 3.2k $47k (exactly $47,218) Walaber Entertainment LLC
Old Coin Pusher Friends older $3.99 351 89% 11k $42k (exactly $42,015) STP WORKS
Loli Ninja Village $6.99 92 80% 2.8k $19k (exactly $19,292) PAON, 072 Localize
Ninja Ming: Wu $1.99 48 100% 1.4k $2.9k (exactly $2,866) 1 Poss Studio
Peak $1.99 42 92% 1.3k $2.5k (exactly $2,507) Three Hands Co
TrainingTiles $9.99 6 100% 180 $1.8k (exactly $1,798) HumanBionics, Jhohan Hernandez
NatsumeRyoran - Romance of Hi-Spec Yoko - $24.99 2 50% 60 $1.5k (exactly $1,499) CyberStep, Inc.
挂机修仙之我能合成功法! $0.99 29 44% 870 $861 (exactly $861) 99 Game Studio
Sengoku Logic - Kumamoto Castle $6.99 3 33% 90 $629 (exactly $629) acdea computer
Ryuu's Sin - A Bara Stealth Game $8.99 2 100% 60 $539 (exactly $539) Male Doll
Backflip Madness 2 $4.99 3 100% 90 $449 (exactly $449) Hubert Śliwka

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