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Should I ship a Sci-fi Parkour game?
Parkour + Sci-fi
Of 87 developers who shipped a Sci-fi Parkour 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.. 170 more are announced, ×3.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $720, ×1.1 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $420k, ×677 the market median. Revenue is up 20% on the market; 170 games are announced against 51 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $150 (exactly $150) |
|---|---|
| Median | $719 (exactly $719) |
| Top 25% | $3.2k (exactly $3,237) |
| Top 5% | $425k (exactly $425,274) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 87 |
| Released games | 304 |
| Announced | 170 |
| Effort | 6 / 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 up 20% on the market, supply 35% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 23%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Parkour; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Platformer, Adventure
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $16.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, 3D, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $16.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 79% positive over 25,558 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 50 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 170 games are announced against 51 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Parkour with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Walking SimulatorFair
- + Combat RacingFair
- + Precision PlatformerLong shot
- + MetroidvaniaPoor odds
- + SkateboardingPoor odds
- + SwordplayPoor odds
- + Hack and SlashPoor odds
- + Dark FantasyPoor odds
- + ModernPoor odds
- + CatsPoor odds
- + DestructionPoor odds
- + StealthPoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Call of Duty®: Black Ops III | older | $59.99 | 157,694 88% | 4.7M | $284M (exactly $283,801,892) | Treyarch, Aspyr (Mac) |
| | Titanfall® 2 | older | $29.99 | 255,050 95% | 7.7M | $229M (exactly $229,468,485) | Respawn Entertainment |
| | Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered | older | $59.99 | 101,879 96% | 3.1M | $183M (exactly $183,351,636) | Insomniac Games, Nixxes Software |
| | STAR WARS Jedi: Survivor™ | older | $69.99 | 79,990 71% | 2.4M | $168M (exactly $167,955,003) | Respawn |
| | Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales | older | $49.99 | 39,234 93% | 1.2M | $59M (exactly $58,839,230) | Insomniac Games, Nixxes Software |
| | Outlast | older | $14.99 | 104,353 96% | 3.1M | $47M (exactly $46,927,544) | Red Barrels |
| | Assassin's Creed 2 | older | $19.99 | 57,661 89% | 1.7M | $35M (exactly $34,579,302) | Ubisoft Montreal |
| | BONEWORKS | older | $29.99 | 34,141 92% | 1.0M | $31M (exactly $30,716,658) | Stress Level Zero |
| | Star Wars Outlaws | $69.99 | 12,268 71% | 368k | $26M (exactly $25,759,120) | Massive Entertainment – A Ubisoft Studio | |
| | Mirror's Edge™ | older | $19.99 | 31,195 87% | 936k | $19M (exactly $18,707,642) | DICE |
| | MOTORSLICE | $19.99 | 5,467 85% | 164k | $3.3M (exactly $3,278,560) | Regular Studio | |
| | VHOLUME | $8.00 | 2,992 97% | 90k | $718k (exactly $718,080) | Nathan Grange, Léonard Lemaitre, Niels… (Nathan Grange, Léonard Lemaitre, Niels Tiercelin) | |
| | EMPULSE | · EA | $9.99 | 1,701 60% | 51k | $510k (exactly $509,790) | 1047 Games |
| | CICADAMATA" | $9.99 | 1,419 96% | 43k | $425k (exactly $425,274) | ✿ flowergarden | |
| | Steel Seed | $39.99 | 339 78% | 10k | $407k (exactly $406,698) | Storm in a Teacup | |
| | Aphelion | $29.99 | 303 63% | 9.1k | $273k (exactly $272,609) | DON'T NOD | |
| | BAIONLENJA | · EA | $12.99 | 510 97% | 15k | $199k (exactly $198,747) | BAION |
| | BLACKSHARD | $14.99 | 432 91% | 13k | $194k (exactly $194,270) | Redlock Studio, Enclave | |
| | CYBERMATRIX | $12.00 | 127 89% | 3.8k | $46k (exactly $45,720) | Tim Murich |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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