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Should I ship an RPG Social Deduction game?
Social Deduction + RPG
Only 15 developers shipped an RPG Social Deduction 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, Feign, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 25 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.2k, ×1.4 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $630; 1 in 20 cleared $780k, ×527 the market median. Revenue is down 25% on the market; 25 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $629 (exactly $629) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.2k (exactly $2,156) |
| Top 25% | $14k (exactly $13,922) |
| Top 5% | $789k (exactly $788,919) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 15 |
| Released games | 42 |
| Announced | 25 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| 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 25% on the market, supply 100% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 33%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Social Deduction
- effort 7 / 10 · low · online lobbies, voice or chat, live player base
- RPG
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Social Deduction, RPG; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry PvP, Co-op, Online Co-Op
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $11.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Funny, 3D, Cartoon
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $11.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 89% positive over 5,931 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $630. 6 in 10 of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 25 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Social Deduction with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + SurvivalFair
- + PsychologicalFair
- + SimulationFair
- + PuzzleLong shot
- + Board GameLong shot
- + Survival HorrorPoor odds
- + HorrorPoor odds
- + AdventurePoor odds
- + Character CustomizationPoor odds
- + PvPPoor odds
- + ActionPoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Town of Salem | older | $4.99 | 30,882 88% | 926k | $4.6M (exactly $4,623,035) | BlankMediaGames |
| | GNOSIA | older | $24.99 | 4,855 93% | 146k | $3.6M (exactly $3,639,794) | Petit Depotto |
| | Dale & Dawson Stationery Supplies | older | $7.99 | 7,792 91% | 234k | $1.9M (exactly $1,867,742) | Striped Panda Studios |
| | Feign | $4.99 | 5,270 91% | 158k | $789k (exactly $788,919) | Teneke Kafalar | |
| | Castaway Paradise - live among the animals | older | $14.99 | 447 71% | 13k | $201k (exactly $201,016) | Stolen Couch Games |
| | Eville | older | $14.99 | 433 68% | 13k | $195k (exactly $194,720) | VestGames |
| | MISTERY | $11.99 | 290 64% | 8.7k | $104k (exactly $104,313) | Game Frontier | |
| | Werewolves Within™ | older | $19.99 | 135 65% | 4.1k | $81k (exactly $80,960) | Ubisoft |
| | Prison Life 2 | older | $4.99 | 188 77% | 5.6k | $28k (exactly $28,144) | AO Games |
| | Who's Next? | $4.99 | 123 87% | 3.7k | $18k (exactly $18,413) | HellAssociation | |
| | BUNKER: RED FLAG | · EA | $4.99 | 93 79% | 2.8k | $14k (exactly $13,922) | Red Flag Team |
| | Werewolf Party | $7.99 | 56 89% | 1.7k | $13k (exactly $13,423) | Absam Studios | |
| | diffiCULT | · EA | $4.99 | 52 94% | 1.6k | $7.8k (exactly $7,784) | Ouz Games |
| | Grim Pastures | · EA | $3.99 | 25 96% | 750 | $3.0k (exactly $2,992) | 7hgamestudio |
| | Catolonizer | · EA | $5.99 | 12 100% | 360 | $2.2k (exactly $2,156) | Alin Games |
| | Agent Versus | $5.99 | 7 100% | 210 | $1.3k (exactly $1,258) | Game Inside Studio | |
| | The Hidden Camp | $6.99 | 3 100% | 90 | $629 (exactly $629) | E and B Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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