Games › Time Manipulation › Time Manipulation + Sci-fi
Should I ship a Sci-fi Time Manipulation game?
Time Manipulation + Sci-fi
Of 62 developers who shipped a Sci-fi Time Manipulation 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.. 122 more are announced, ×3.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.1k, ×2.3 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $210; 1 in 20 cleared $310k, ×657 the market median. Revenue is up 45% on the market; 122 games are announced against 32 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $210 (exactly $210) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.1k (exactly $1,079) |
| Top 25% | $13k (exactly $13,187) |
| Top 5% | $312k (exactly $311,860) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 62 |
| Released games | 223 |
| Announced | 122 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $8.99 |
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 45% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 15%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Time Manipulation
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Sci-fi
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Time Manipulation; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Action, Exploration
- Price point
- $8.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, Atmospheric, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.
The top 10 games average 93% positive over 8,077 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $210. 9 in 10 of the 37 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 122 games are announced against 32 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Time Manipulation with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + DemonsFair
- + CapitalismFair
- + ModernFair
- + PsychologicalFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + RacingFair
- + Precision PlatformerFair
- + Choose Your Own AdventurePoor odds
- + RobotsPoor odds
- + Post-apocalypticPoor odds
- + DetectivePoor odds
- + NoirPoor odds
Comparable games
Katana ZERO 2019 · $30M 
Quantum Break 2016 · $28M 
SUPERHOT 2016 · $21M 
SUPERHOT VR 2017 · $6.0M 
Singularity™ 2010 · $4.9M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Katana ZERO | older | $14.99 | 66,341 97% | 2.0M | $30M (exactly $29,833,548) | Askiisoft |
| | Quantum Break | older | $39.99 | 23,141 86% | 694k | $28M (exactly $27,762,258) | Remedy Entertainment |
| | SUPERHOT | older | $24.99 | 27,765 91% | 833k | $21M (exactly $20,815,420) | SUPERHOT Team |
| | SUPERHOT VR | older | $24.99 | 7,978 82% | 239k | $6.0M (exactly $5,981,107) | SUPERHOT Team |
| | Singularity™ | older | $29.99 | 5,487 93% | 165k | $4.9M (exactly $4,936,654) | Raven Software |
 | Phantom Brigade | older | $29.99 | 4,412 81% | 132k | $4.0M (exactly $3,969,476) | Brace Yourself Games |
 | 5D Chess With Multiverse Time Travel | older | $11.99 | 8,097 96% | 243k | $2.9M (exactly $2,912,491) | Conor Petersen, Thunkspace, LLC |
 | The Drifter | $19.99 | 4,735 97% | 142k | $2.8M (exactly $2,839,580) | Powerhoof, Dave Lloyd | |
 | The Entropy Centre | older | $19.99 | 3,359 89% | 101k | $2.0M (exactly $2,014,392) | Stubby Games |
 | The Silent Age | older | $9.99 | 5,966 93% | 179k | $1.8M (exactly $1,788,010) | House On Fire |
 | The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak II | $59.99 | 669 83% | 20k | $1.2M (exactly $1,203,999) | Nihon Falcom, PH3 GmbH | |
 | Million Depth | $16.99 | 673 93% | 20k | $343k (exactly $343,028) | Cyber Space Biotope | |
 | Ascend to ZERO | $11.99 | 867 82% | 26k | $312k (exactly $311,860) | Flyway Games, Inc. | |
 | Wanderer: The Fragments of Fate | $49.99 | 149 62% | 4.5k | $223k (exactly $223,455) | Mighty Eyes | |
 | Ever 17 - The Out of Infinity | $29.99 | 182 82% | 5.5k | $164k (exactly $163,745) | MAGES. Inc. | |
 | MotionRec | $9.99 | 430 99% | 13k | $129k (exactly $128,871) | HANDSUM | |
 | NODE | $24.99 | 146 91% | 4.4k | $109k (exactly $109,456) | Lapsus Games | |
 | UnLoop | · EA | $17.99 | 163 98% | 4.9k | $88k (exactly $87,971) | Superposition NULL |
 | Otherskin | $29.99 | 63 69% | 1.9k | $57k (exactly $56,681) | Game Atelier |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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