Do I ship it?

GamesStealthStealth + Villain Protagonist

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Villain-Led Stealth game?

Stealth + Villain Protagonist

Only 4 developers shipped a Villain-Led Stealth game in the last 2 years. Over 4 years, 16 did: 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.. 16 more are announced, ×8.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.

Only 2 developers shipped this in the last year, under the 5 a verdict needs; over 2 years the middle one made $200k against a market of $630. 16 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 323.6 times the market baseline, revenue too few recent games to read momentum, 16 announced, ×8.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Stealth + Villain Protagonist
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 4 yr n = 16
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.3M → $377k → $539 → $2.7k
Outcomes for Stealth + Villain Protagonist: Plate 1 · outcomes, 4 yr, n = 16
Bottom 30% $2.7k (exactly $2,695)
Median $185k (exactly $185,276)
Top 25% $650k (exactly $650,075)
Top 5% $16M (exactly $15,610,496)
Developers, 4 yr 16
Released games 38
Announced 16
Effort 6 / 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 too few recent games to read momentum, supply as many developers as the period before.

Free games: 5%, 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.

Stealth
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Villain Protagonist
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Stealth
Price point
$8.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

Fewer than 10 games in the last 4 years; sentiment and price figures use the all window.

The top 25% priced at $39.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 87% positive over 121,532 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 4 years by share: 3 in 10 under $2.7k, median $190k, 1 in 4 over $650k, 1 in 20 over $15M.

3 in 10 developers made under $2.7k. 16 games are announced against 2 developers who shipped in the last year, ×8.0 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + JRPGFair7 devs · median $1.3k · 12 announced
  2. + World War IIPoor odds11 devs · median $43k · 14 announced
  3. + LGBTQ+Poor odds19 devs · median $30k · 30 announced
  4. + Turn-Based CombatPoor odds8 devs · median $27k · 31 announced
  5. + WargamePoor odds10 devs · median $21k · 39 announced
  6. + DinosaursPoor odds10 devs · median $17k · 23 announced
  7. + Gun CustomizationPoor odds20 devs · median $13k · 63 announced
  8. + Base BuildingPoor odds21 devs · median $13k · 57 announced
  9. + Cold WarPoor odds7 devs · median $10k · 31 announced
  10. + HistoricalPoor odds32 devs · median $9.6k · 76 announced
  11. + MilitaryPoor odds43 devs · median $8.5k · 122 announced
  12. + WarPoor odds30 devs · median $7.6k · 89 announced

All 159 pairs on the Stealth page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
CARRION older $19.99 33,270 94% 998k $20M (exactly $19,952,019) Phobia Game Studio
Six Days in Fallujah · EA older $39.99 13,012 79% 390k $16M (exactly $15,610,496) Highwire Games
Untitled Goose Game older $19.99 22,797 95% 684k $14M (exactly $13,671,361) House House
Prototype 2 older $39.99 10,389 75% 312k $12M (exactly $12,463,683) Radical Entertainment
Aliens vs. Predator™ older $14.99 16,268 91% 488k $7.3M (exactly $7,315,720) Rebellion
DRAGON BALL: THE BREAKERS older $29.99 4,983 50% 149k $4.5M (exactly $4,483,205) Dimps Corporation
Party Hard older $9.99 9,781 91% 293k $2.9M (exactly $2,931,366) Pinokl Games, Kverta
Lucius older $9.99 7,774 80% 233k $2.3M (exactly $2,329,868) Shiver Games
Party Hard 2 older $19.99 2,419 78% 73k $1.5M (exactly $1,450,674) Pinokl Games, Kverta, Hologryph
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum™ older $49.99 839 41% 25k $1.3M (exactly $1,258,248) Daedalic Entertainment
TORMENTOR $29.99 287 49% 8.6k $258k (exactly $258,214) Madmind Studio
Highway Police Simulator $27.99 242 30% 7.3k $203k (exactly $203,207) Z-Software
SECTOR ZERO $3.99 138 93% 4.1k $17k (exactly $16,519) Ondrej Angelovic
Cat Nips $4.99 18 94% 540 $2.7k (exactly $2,695) firminou

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