Games › Simulation › Simulation + Runner
Should I ship a Runner Simulation game?
Simulation + Runner
Of 113 developers who shipped a Runner 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.. 84 more are announced.
Verdict: dead, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $270 in the last 2 years and $360 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 5 / 10 build. 57 developers shipped in the last year and 84 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $30 (exactly $30) |
|---|---|
| Median | $269 (exactly $269) |
| Top 25% | $1.3k (exactly $1,317) |
| Top 5% | $19k (exactly $19,337) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 113 |
| Released games | 344 |
| Announced | 84 |
| Effort | 5 / 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 flat on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 11%, 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
- Runner
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Simulation, Runner; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Racing
- Price point
- $3.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Realistic, Cute
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $3.99.
The top 10 games average 82% positive over 1,550 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $50. 9 in 10 of the 66 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 84 games are announced against 57 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
TrackDayR 2021 · EA · $1.7M 
Retrowave 2022 · $1.2M 
STRIDE 2022 · $1.2M 
Climber Animals: Together 2024 · $720k 
Drift86 2019 · $316k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | TrackDayR | · EA older | $24.99 | 2,213 86% | 66k | $1.7M (exactly $1,659,086) | MadCow S.r.l. |
| | Retrowave | older | $2.99 | 13,742 96% | 412k | $1.2M (exactly $1,232,657) | RewindApp |
| | STRIDE | older | $19.99 | 1,975 79% | 59k | $1.2M (exactly $1,184,408) | Joy Way |
| | Climber Animals: Together | older | $3.99 | 6,014 73% | 180k | $720k (exactly $719,876) | Devotion Interactive |
| | Drift86 | older | $1.99 | 5,293 91% | 159k | $316k (exactly $315,992) | RewindApp |
 | Furry Killer | older | $29.99 | 241 78% | 7.2k | $217k (exactly $216,828) | Sujikon |
 | VR Skater | older | $19.99 | 222 86% | 6.7k | $133k (exactly $133,133) | DEFICIT Games |
 | Elypse | older | $9.99 | 297 71% | 8.9k | $89k (exactly $89,011) | Hot Chili Games |
 | Retrowave 2 | $4.99 | 449 88% | 13k | $67k (exactly $67,215) | RewindApp | |
 | Rabbit Riot | older | $39.99 | 49 87% | 1.5k | $59k (exactly $58,785) | Reactor Studios |
 | Eggo | $5.99 | 310 83% | 9.3k | $56k (exactly $55,707) | 天赋一饼 Meme Crepe | |
 | Catch Me | $5.99 | 178 70% | 5.3k | $32k (exactly $31,987) | Doorway Games | |
 | Progress Racer RPG | $5.99 | 133 94% | 4.0k | $24k (exactly $23,900) | Cameron Ladjevardi, David Elliot | |
 | SuperSorry | $5.99 | 115 74% | 3.5k | $21k (exactly $20,666) | Sun Studio | |
 | Ala Mobile | $14.99 | 43 74% | 1.3k | $19k (exactly $19,337) | CVi Games | |
 | Puppet Team | $4.99 | 112 64% | 3.4k | $17k (exactly $16,766) | Editmode | |
 | Hobby Horse | $14.99 | 29 89% | 870 | $13k (exactly $13,041) | Games Incubator | |
 | Steal The Pig | $4.99 | 74 85% | 2.2k | $11k (exactly $11,078) | BAA Games | |
 | Synthwave Driver | · EA | $2.99 | 107 86% | 3.2k | $9.6k (exactly $9,598) | Runebox Studios |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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