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Should I ship a Noir Walking Simulator?
Walking Simulator + Noir
Of 44 developers who shipped a Noir 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.. 52 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.5k, ×3.2 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $600. Revenue is up 10% on the market; 52 games are announced against 28 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $599 (exactly $599) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.5k (exactly $1,498) |
| Top 25% | $6.0k (exactly $5,994) |
| Top 5% | $44k (exactly $43,524) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 44 |
| Released games | 130 |
| Announced | 52 |
| 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 10% on the market, supply 65% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 17%, 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
- Noir
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Walking Simulator; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration, Investigation
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $11.99 or above
- Art
- 7 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, First-Person, Story Rich
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $11.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 1,153 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $600. 9 in 10 of the 25 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 52 games are announced against 28 developers who shipped in the last year.
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
- + HorrorFair
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Return of the Obra Dinn | older | $19.99 | 32,309 96% | 969k | $19M (exactly $19,375,707) | Lucas Pope |
| | Murdered: Soul Suspect | older | $19.99 | 12,051 87% | 362k | $7.2M (exactly $7,226,985) | Airtight Games |
| | INDIKA | older | $24.99 | 7,034 89% | 211k | $5.3M (exactly $5,273,390) | Odd Meter |
| | Nobody Wants to Die | older | $24.99 | 5,818 83% | 175k | $4.4M (exactly $4,361,755) | Critical Hit Games |
| | This Bed We Made | older | $24.99 | 3,187 90% | 96k | $2.4M (exactly $2,389,294) | Lowbirth Games |
| | Tales of the Neon Sea | older | $16.99 | 3,853 84% | 116k | $2.0M (exactly $1,963,874) | YiTi Games |
| | Fears to Fathom - Norwood Hitchhike | older | $4.99 | 3,230 87% | 97k | $484k (exactly $483,531) | Rayll |
| | Fears to Fathom - Carson House | older | $4.99 | 2,764 91% | 83k | $414k (exactly $413,771) | Rayll |
| | Metamorphosis | older | $24.99 | 467 83% | 14k | $350k (exactly $350,110) | Ovid Works |
| | 7th Sector | older | $10.99 | 643 72% | 19k | $212k (exactly $211,997) | Носков Сергей |
| | Radiolight | $14.99 | 414 90% | 12k | $186k (exactly $186,176) | Krystof Knesl | |
| | The Last Case of John Morley | $12.99 | 222 77% | 6.7k | $87k (exactly $86,513) | Indigo Studios - Interactive Stories | |
| | Cat Detective Albert Wilde | $11.99 | 121 93% | 3.6k | $44k (exactly $43,524) | beyondthosehills | |
| | Bite Night: Dine or Die | $6.99 | 85 94% | 2.6k | $18k (exactly $17,824) | MyGrandfather Games | |
| | Scary Shadow Spot - Last Farewell | $9.99 | 50 96% | 1.5k | $15k (exactly $14,985) | Daniele Doesn't Matter | |
| | T.W.I.R.L. | $5.99 | 69 84% | 2.1k | $12k (exactly $12,399) | Genie Boy Games | |
| | Beso's Shawarma | $2.99 | 92 91% | 2.8k | $8.3k (exactly $8,252) | Mtatsminda Studio | |
| | Witness the Dark - Episode 1 - Bloody Burger | $8.99 | 28 75% | 840 | $7.6k (exactly $7,552) | Cold Narrative | |
| | Jason Maxx | $9.99 | 24 91% | 720 | $7.2k (exactly $7,193) | Nabos Studios | |
| | Until They Burn | $4.99 | 48 93% | 1.4k | $7.2k (exactly $7,186) | Runebox Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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