Do I ship it?

Games › Runner › Runner + Sci-fi

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Sci-fi Runner?

Runner + Sci-fi

Of 91 developers who shipped a Sci-fi Runner 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.. 116 more are announced, ×2.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $150 in the last 2 years and $240 over 4, against a market of $480 for a 4 / 10 build. 52 developers shipped in the last year and 116 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.3 times the market baseline, revenue up 115% on the market, 116 announced, ×2.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Runner + Sci-fi
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 91
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $327 → $1.5k → $300 → $210 → $180 → $120 → $449 (still earning) → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Runner + Sci-fi: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 91
Bottom 30% $0 (exactly $0)
Median $150 (exactly $150)
Top 25% $1.5k (exactly $1,468)
Top 5% $27k (exactly $26,632)
Developers, 2 yr 91
Released games 307
Announced 116
Effort 4 / 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 up 115% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 18%, 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.

Runner
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
Sci-fi
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Runner; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Platformer, Arcade
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person, 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 94% positive over 4,706 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $50, median $150, 1 in 4 over $1.4k, 1 in 20 over $26k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. Nearly all of the 47 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 116 games are announced against 52 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.2 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Runner with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + LootFair8 devs · median $1.6k · 10 announced
  2. + Local MultiplayerFair23 devs · median $1.3k · 30 announced
  3. + PsychologicalFair14 devs · median $839 · 12 announced
  4. + IdlerFair16 devs · median $838 · 8 announced
  5. + Visual NovelFair12 devs · median $750 · 11 announced
  6. + Time AttackFair15 devs · median $599 · 10 announced
  7. + FPSLong shot39 devs · median $958 · 43 announced
  8. + 4 Player LocalPoor odds12 devs · median $2.4k · 16 announced
  9. + MusicPoor odds16 devs · median $1.2k · 20 announced
  10. + Co-opPoor odds38 devs · median $1.0k · 64 announced
  11. + Online Co-OpPoor odds40 devs · median $898 · 64 announced
  12. + Interactive FictionPoor odds10 devs · median $839 · 16 announced

All 123 pairs on the Runner page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Mirror's Edge™ Catalyst 2020 · $8.4M Soda Crisis 2022 · $961k VHOLUME 2026 · $718k Mighty Goose 2021 · $566k DeadCore 2014 · $475k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Mirror's Edge™ Catalyst older $19.99 14,078 79% 422k $8.4M (exactly $8,442,577) DICE
Soda Crisis older $10.99 2,915 93% 87k $961k (exactly $961,076) Team Soda
VHOLUME $8.00 2,992 97% 90k $718k (exactly $718,080) Nathan Grange, Léonard Lemaitre, Niels… (Nathan Grange, Léonard Lemaitre, Niels Tiercelin)
Mighty Goose older $19.99 943 86% 28k $566k (exactly $565,517) Blastmode, MP2 Games
DeadCore older $9.99 1,584 85% 48k $475k (exactly $474,725) 5 Bits Games
Bionic Bay $19.99 750 84% 23k $450k (exactly $449,775) Psychoflow Studio, Mureena Oy
DeathSprint 66 older $19.99 495 83% 15k $297k (exactly $296,852) Sumo Digital
Seen · EA older $0.99 9,326 91% 280k $277k (exactly $276,982) Seen Games
Neodash older $15.99 481 90% 14k $231k (exactly $230,736) Axan Gray
Espire 1: VR Operative older $19.99 381 54% 11k $228k (exactly $228,486) Digital Lode Immersive Media
CONERU -DIMENSION GIRL- $19.99 263 96% 7.9k $158k (exactly $157,721) HIKE Inc., Eallin Japan Co.Ltd.
Retrowave 2 $4.99 449 88% 13k $67k (exactly $67,215) RewindApp
This Is No Cave $6.99 127 96% 3.8k $27k (exactly $26,632) monome.studio
Moto Rush Reborn $12.99 43 97% 1.3k $17k (exactly $16,757) Baltoro Games
SPEEDSHOT $14.99 27 100% 810 $12k (exactly $12,142) karmacode
Soul Drifter $14.99 16 93% 480 $7.2k (exactly $7,195) VISIONKEEPER Studio
TIRELESS: Prepare For The Adrenaline $4.99 32 84% 960 $4.8k (exactly $4,790) naro
Sportvida CyberDash $19.99 7 85% 210 $4.2k (exactly $4,198) ible Sportvida

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