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Should I ship a Time Manipulation Stealth game?
Stealth + Time Manipulation
Only 17 developers shipped a Time Manipulation Stealth 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, Deadeye Deepfake Simulacrum, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 30 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.0k, ×1.7 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $320k, ×521 the market median. Revenue is up 330% on the market; 30 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $299 (exactly $299) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.0k (exactly $1,048) |
| Top 25% | $13k (exactly $12,558) |
| Top 5% | $327k (exactly $326,958) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 17 |
| Released games | 42 |
| Announced | 30 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| 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 up 330% on the market, supply 55% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 7%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Stealth
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Time Manipulation
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Stealth, Time Manipulation; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Puzzle, Simulation
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, Realistic, Story Rich
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 95% positive over 1,605 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 8 in 10 of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 30 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Stealth with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + JRPGFair
- + World War IIPoor odds
- + LGBTQ+Poor odds
- + Turn-Based CombatPoor odds
- + WargamePoor odds
- + DinosaursPoor odds
- + Gun CustomizationPoor odds
- + Base BuildingPoor odds
- + Cold WarPoor odds
- + HistoricalPoor odds
- + MilitaryPoor odds
- + WarPoor odds
Comparable games
DEATHLOOP 2021 · $36M 
Quantum Break 2016 · $28M 
The Sexy Brutale 2017 · $1.7M 
Timelie 2020 · $962k 
Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones™ 2008 · $804k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | DEATHLOOP | older | $59.99 | 19,910 76% | 597k | $36M (exactly $35,832,027) | Arkane Studios |
| | Quantum Break | older | $39.99 | 23,141 86% | 694k | $28M (exactly $27,762,258) | Remedy Entertainment |
| | The Sexy Brutale | older | $19.99 | 2,895 91% | 87k | $1.7M (exactly $1,736,131) | Cavalier Game Studios, Tequila Works |
| | Timelie | older | $17.99 | 1,783 95% | 53k | $962k (exactly $962,285) | Urnique Studio |
| | Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones™ | older | $9.99 | 2,683 80% | 80k | $804k (exactly $804,095) | Ubisoft Montreal |
 | Shadwen | older | $16.99 | 1,049 77% | 31k | $535k (exactly $534,675) | Frozenbyte |
 | Deadeye Deepfake Simulacrum | $12.99 | 839 98% | 25k | $327k (exactly $326,958) | nodayshalleraseyou | |
 | Kulebra and the Souls of Limbo: Closure Edition | $19.99 | 164 99% | 4.9k | $98k (exactly $98,351) | Galla | |
 | HORROR TALES: The Beggar | older | $11.99 | 127 84% | 3.8k | $46k (exactly $45,682) | CarlosGameDev |
 | UberSoldier | older | $4.99 | 288 83% | 8.6k | $43k (exactly $43,114) | Burut CT |
 | Paragnosia | $3.99 | 228 92% | 6.8k | $27k (exactly $27,292) | Sine Coda | |
 | Paragnosia: Museum | $5.99 | 139 87% | 4.2k | $25k (exactly $24,978) | Sine Coda | |
 | Shadows of Soldiers | $9.99 | 45 75% | 1.4k | $13k (exactly $13,486) | Ghost in the Wire | |
 | Hank: Drowning On Dry Land | $2.99 | 140 95% | 4.2k | $13k (exactly $12,558) | My Next Games | |
 | Time Hacker | $14.99 | 24 70% | 720 | $11k (exactly $10,793) | Joy Way | |
 | Daughter of The Void | · EA | $9.99 | 15 100% | 450 | $4.5k (exactly $4,496) | Shaybabe |
 | Spymaster | · EA | $11.99 | 6 100% | 180 | $2.2k (exactly $2,158) | InnerspaceVR |
 | ANARIA: Reborn | $6.99 | 5 40% | 150 | $1.0k (exactly $1,048) | VOIDEMBER |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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