Do I ship it?

Games › Quick-Time Events › Quick-Time Events + Rhythm

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Quick-Time Events Rhythm game?

Quick-Time Events + Rhythm

Of 33 developers who shipped a Quick-Time Events Rhythm 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.. 37 more are announced.

Verdict: dead, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $300 in the last 2 years and $300 over 4, against a market of $480 for a 4 / 10 build. 22 developers shipped in the last year and 37 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.6 times the market baseline, revenue down 85% on the market, 37 announced, ×1.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Quick-Time Events + Rhythm
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 33
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.2k → $0 → $599 → $418 → $299 → $120 (still earning) → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Quick-Time Events + Rhythm: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 33
Bottom 30% $119 (exactly $119)
Median $299 (exactly $299)
Top 25% $1.5k (exactly $1,497)
Top 5% $159k (exactly $159,161)
Developers, 2 yr 33
Released games 96
Announced 37
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $3.99

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 85% on the market, supply 100% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 20%, 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.

Quick-Time Events
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
Rhythm
effort 3 / 10 · medium · audio sync, timing precision and music rights

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Quick-Time Events, Rhythm; 3 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Score Attack, Arcade
Price point
$3.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Cute, Hand-drawn
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $3.99.

The top 10 games average 92% positive over 1,414 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $120, median $300, 1 in 4 over $1.4k, 1 in 20 over $150k.

3 in 10 developers made under $120. 9 in 10 of the 15 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 37 games are announced against 22 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Quick-Time Events with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Dating SimFair17 devs · median $15k · 16 announced
  2. + Shoot 'Em UpFair8 devs · median $1.2k · 12 announced
  3. + Life SimFair28 devs · median $958 · 33 announced
  4. + SimulationFair116 devs · median $748 · 133 announced
  5. + CollectathonFair15 devs · median $720 · 18 announced
  6. + Resource ManagementFair46 devs · median $719 · 55 announced
  7. + FlightFair9 devs · median $657 · 9 announced
  8. + AliensFair12 devs · median $628 · 14 announced
  9. + SpaceFair16 devs · median $597 · 24 announced
  10. + Bullet TimeLong shot10 devs · median $390 · 15 announced
  11. + DemonsLong shot17 devs · median $300 · 22 announced
  12. + Bullet HellLong shot27 devs · median $239 · 25 announced

All 110 pairs on the Quick-Time Events page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Headbangers: Rhythm Royale 2023 · $884k Rock Star Life Simulator 2025 · $187k BAZOOKA: Rhythm Game 2026 · $159k Maestro VR 2022 · EA · $101k Dashy Square 2016 · $23k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Headbangers: Rhythm Royale older $29.99 983 69% 29k $884k (exactly $884,405) Glee-Cheese Studio
Rock Star Life Simulator $12.49 498 85% 15k $187k (exactly $186,601) HOGO Games
BAZOOKA: Rhythm Game $7.99 664 98% 20k $159k (exactly $159,161) Gregory Seguru, Codrin Bradea
Maestro VR · EA older $29.99 112 62% 3.4k $101k (exactly $100,766) Symphonic Games
Dashy Square older $6.99 110 81% 3.3k $23k (exactly $23,067) Kastriot Sulejmani, Logan Gerrol
Viro Move older $24.99 23 43% 690 $17k (exactly $17,243) FIT REALITY
The Shaman's Ark $9.99 47 97% 1.4k $14k (exactly $14,086) Amortiz Games
Disco Samurai $9.99 45 88% 1.4k $13k (exactly $13,486) Pixel Fiber Games
Shooting Arena VR · EA older $12.99 28 85% 840 $11k (exactly $10,912) Infinity Studio
life is not auto older $3.99 87 94% 2.6k $10k (exactly $10,414) Bold Fish
Cozy Twinkie $2.99 89 82% 2.7k $8.0k (exactly $7,983) Noodle A.M
Pattaya Simulator $8.99 22 90% 660 $5.9k (exactly $5,933) N-nic Studio
36 Zodiac Cycles $5.99 20 100% 600 $3.6k (exactly $3,594) 雪中观狐
AeroWave OS $4.99 11 81% 330 $1.6k (exactly $1,647) ByBelka Studio
Who move my key? $4.99 10 100% 300 $1.5k (exactly $1,497) 与众第九艺术
Hush Hush High $5.99 8 87% 240 $1.4k (exactly $1,438) Bablabo Games, Hritik Dutta, Anushka Ka… (Bablabo Games, Hritik Dutta, Anushka Karmakar, Nimish Rohankar)

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