Games › Simulation › Simulation + Quick-Time Events
Should I ship a Quick-Time Events Simulation game?
Simulation + Quick-Time Events
Of 116 developers who shipped a Quick-Time Events Simulation 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.. 133 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $750, ×1.2 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $240. Revenue is down 20% on the market; 133 games are announced against 72 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $239 (exactly $239) |
|---|---|
| Median | $748 (exactly $748) |
| Top 25% | $4.9k (exactly $4,934) |
| Top 5% | $156k (exactly $155,620) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 116 |
| Released games | 260 |
| Announced | 133 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $4.99 |
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 20% on the market, supply 60% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Quick-Time Events
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Simulation, Quick-Time Events; 3 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Immersive Sim, Life Sim, Adventure
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Cute, Colorful, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 86% positive over 12,659 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $240. 8 in 10 of the 59 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 133 games are announced against 72 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Simulation with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Escape RoomStrong odds
- + World War IFair
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + PinballFair
- + Female ProtagonistFair
- + BirdsFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + MusicFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + ProgrammingFair
Comparable games
Call of Duty®: Black Ops III 2015 · $284M 
Assassin’s Creed® Rogue 2015 · $13M 
Chef Life: A Restaurant Simulator 2023 · $2.0M 
Shenmue I & II 2018 · $1.9M 
Card Shark 2022 · $1.8M | 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) |
| | Assassin’s Creed® Rogue | older | $19.99 | 21,310 86% | 639k | $13M (exactly $12,779,607) | Ubisoft Sofia, Ubisoft Kiev |
| | Chef Life: A Restaurant Simulator | older | $29.99 | 2,222 83% | 67k | $2.0M (exactly $1,999,133) | Cyanide Studio |
| | Shenmue I & II | older | $29.99 | 2,144 89% | 64k | $1.9M (exactly $1,928,957) | D3T |
| | Card Shark | older | $19.99 | 2,965 90% | 89k | $1.8M (exactly $1,778,110) | Nerial |
 | Thriving City: Song | older | $18.99 | 3,054 81% | 92k | $1.7M (exactly $1,739,864) | White Star Studio |
 | Hello Love: 18 Again | $19.99 | 2,075 92% | 62k | $1.2M (exactly $1,244,378) | 念念而忘(Echofall Studio) | |
 | Shenmue III | older | $29.99 | 1,028 75% | 31k | $925k (exactly $924,892) | YS NET |
 | 恋爱单选题 | older | $10.99 | 2,424 81% | 73k | $799k (exactly $799,193) | 无忧传媒 |
 | Accident | older | $14.99 | 1,462 76% | 44k | $657k (exactly $657,461) | Duality Games, Spirit Games Studio |
 | Ship, Inc. | $9.99 | 2,168 83% | 65k | $650k (exactly $649,750) | Rogue Duck Interactive | |
 | Lost But Found | $6.99 | 2,316 71% | 69k | $486k (exactly $485,665) | Rogue Duck Interactive | |
 | Cats & Cups | $9.99 | 1,047 89% | 31k | $314k (exactly $313,786) | Rogue Duck Interactive | |
 | Growing Things Up - Season 1 | $12.99 | 707 91% | 21k | $276k (exactly $275,518) | King, BLANQ | |
 | Cornerpond | $2.99 | 2,567 97% | 77k | $230k (exactly $230,260) | foolsroom | |
 | Rock Star Life Simulator | $12.49 | 498 85% | 15k | $187k (exactly $186,601) | HOGO Games | |
 | Bugtopia | $5.99 | 866 92% | 26k | $156k (exactly $155,620) | Nocturnal Games | |
 | CFS (Chinese Football Simulator) | $9.99 | 290 67% | 8.7k | $87k (exactly $86,913) | 悟空实验室 | |
 | Rally Arcade Classics | $19.99 | 125 79% | 3.8k | $75k (exactly $74,962) | NETK2GAMES |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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