Games › Skateboarding › Skateboarding + Simulation
Should I ship a Simulation Skateboarding game?
Skateboarding + Simulation
Of 20 developers who shipped a Simulation Skateboarding 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.. 18 more are announced, ×2.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $8.1k, ×13 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $720; 1 in 20 cleared $2.3M, ×3796 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 18 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $719 (exactly $719) |
|---|---|
| Median | $8.1k (exactly $8,095) |
| Top 25% | $73k (exactly $73,471) |
| Top 5% | $2.4M (exactly $2,383,808) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 20 |
| Released games | 56 |
| Announced | 18 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 35% fewer 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.
- Skateboarding
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Simulation
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Skateboarding, Simulation; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Physics, Character Customization, Exploration
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Third Person, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 89% positive over 9,192 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $720. 6 in 10 of the 15 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 18 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Skateboarding with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Character CustomizationPoor odds
- + 3D PlatformerPoor odds
- + SportsPoor odds
- + ExplorationPoor odds
- + ActionPoor odds
- + PhysicsPoor odds
- + AdventurePoor odds
- + PlatformerPoor odds
- + ParkourPoor odds
- + Open WorldPoor odds
- + ArcadePoor odds
- + Action-AdventureDead
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Riders Republic | older | $39.99 | 30,458 81% | 914k | $37M (exactly $36,540,463) | Ubisoft Annecy, Ubisoft Belgrade, Ubiso… (Ubisoft Annecy, Ubisoft Belgrade, Ubisoft Kyiv, Ubisoft Pune, Ubisoft Odesa) |
| | Skater XL - The Ultimate Skateboarding Game | older | $39.99 | 18,400 86% | 552k | $22M (exactly $22,074,480) | Easy Day Studios Pty Ltd |
| | Session: Skate Sim | older | $39.99 | 13,460 83% | 404k | $16M (exactly $16,147,962) | crea-ture Studios Inc. |
| | BMX Streets | older | $24.99 | 4,366 80% | 131k | $3.3M (exactly $3,273,190) | Mash Games |
| | ScooterFlow | $19.99 | 3,975 95% | 119k | $2.4M (exactly $2,383,808) | UncannyKiwi Limited | |
| | STORROR Parkour Pro | · EA | $24.99 | 1,605 71% | 48k | $1.2M (exactly $1,203,268) | Hole in the Sleeve Game Studios |
| | Slackers - Carts of Glory | $12.99 | 1,984 91% | 60k | $773k (exactly $773,165) | Falling Saints | |
| | Driftwood | $19.99 | 1,197 92% | 36k | $718k (exactly $717,841) | Stoked Sloth Interactive | |
| | SkateBIRD | older | $19.99 | 637 85% | 19k | $382k (exactly $382,009) | Glass Bottom Games |
| | BMX The Game | · EA older | $24.99 | 448 60% | 13k | $336k (exactly $335,866) | Barspin Studios |
| | Graffism VR - Graffiti Simulator | · EA | $24.99 | 98 86% | 2.9k | $73k (exactly $73,471) | VRiteLabs |
| | Virtual Skate | · EA | $19.99 | 96 98% | 2.9k | $58k (exactly $57,571) | Flip Axis Studios |
| | Skatehouse | $9.99 | 123 94% | 3.7k | $37k (exactly $36,863) | Tyler Ray Games | |
| | Mop Skater | $6.99 | 41 78% | 1.2k | $8.6k (exactly $8,598) | youpiepoopie | |
| | cheapskate | · EA | $4.99 | 55 98% | 1.7k | $8.2k (exactly $8,234) | Simple Dev Studio |
| | Skatesterre | $14.99 | 18 55% | 540 | $8.1k (exactly $8,095) | Goon Squad |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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