Should I ship a Dog game?
Dogs
Of 327 developers who shipped a Dog 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.. 390 more are announced, ×2.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $900, ×1.9 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $210; 1 in 20 cleared $190k, ×404 the market median. Revenue is down 15% on the market; 390 games are announced against 185 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $208 (exactly $208) |
|---|---|
| Median | $899 (exactly $899) |
| Top 25% | $7.5k (exactly $7,485) |
| Top 5% | $192k (exactly $191,915) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 327 |
| Released games | 1,009 |
| Announced | 390 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| Typical price | $4.99 |
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 down 15% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 13%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Dogs
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 83% positive over 25,219 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $210. 9 in 10 of the 182 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 390 games are announced against 185 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 per shipper.
All pairs with Dogs
- Precision Platformer + Dogs Poor odds $716
- Strategy + Dogs Poor odds $629
- RPG + Dogs Poor odds $629
- Time Management + Dogs Poor odds $610
- Incremental + Dogs Poor odds $599
- Puzzle Platformer + Dogs Poor odds $598
- Action-Adventure + Dogs Poor odds $594
- Agriculture + Dogs Poor odds $359
- Local Multiplayer + Dogs Dead $3.6k
- Investigation + Dogs Dead $3.6k
- Choose Your Own Adventure + Dogs Dead $1.4k
- Shoot 'Em Up + Dogs Dead $1.4k
- Turn-Based Tactics + Dogs Dead $629
- PvE + Dogs Dead $359
- Score Attack + Dogs Dead $299
- Arcade + Dogs Dead $298
- Shooter + Dogs Dead $298
- Physics + Dogs Dead $239
- Runner + Dogs Dead $210
- Hack and Slash + Dogs Dead $0
Comparable games
Watch_Dogs™ 2014 · $30M 
Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® 3 (2011) 2011 · $19M 
Call of Duty®: Ghosts 2014 · $16M 
Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name 2023 · $14M 
Call of Duty®: Advanced Warfare - Gold Edition 2014 · $13M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Watch_Dogs™ | older | $19.99 | 49,193 79% | 1.5M | $30M (exactly $29,501,042) | Ubisoft |
| | Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® 3 (2011) | older | $39.99 | 15,588 90% | 468k | $19M (exactly $18,700,924) | Infinity Ward, Sledgehammer Games |
| | Call of Duty®: Ghosts | older | $39.99 | 12,976 66% | 389k | $16M (exactly $15,567,307) | Infinity Ward |
| | Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name | older | $49.99 | 9,118 95% | 274k | $14M (exactly $13,674,265) | RGG Studio |
| | Call of Duty®: Advanced Warfare - Gold Edition | older | $39.99 | 11,103 64% | 333k | $13M (exactly $13,320,269) | Sledgehammer Games, Raven Software |
 | Valiant Hearts: The Great War™ / Soldats Inconnus : Mémoires de la Grande Guerre™ | older | $14.99 | 24,468 95% | 734k | $11M (exactly $11,003,260) | Ubisoft Montpellier |
 | Wobbledogs | older | $19.99 | 13,770 98% | 413k | $8.3M (exactly $8,257,869) | Animal Uprising |
 | Beast of Reincarnation | $59.99 | 4,188 56% | 126k | $7.5M (exactly $7,537,144) | GAME FREAK inc. | |
 | Necromunda: Hired Gun | older | $39.99 | 5,892 68% | 177k | $7.1M (exactly $7,068,632) | Streum On Studio |
 | Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl | older | $49.99 | 4,311 75% | 129k | $6.5M (exactly $6,465,207) | Ludosity, Fair Play Labs |
 | My Little Puppy | $24.99 | 4,435 97% | 133k | $3.3M (exactly $3,324,920) | Dreamotion Inc. | |
 | Enigma of Fear | $29.99 | 3,045 95% | 91k | $2.7M (exactly $2,739,586) | Dumativa, Cellbit | |
 | Copycat | $14.99 | 4,611 89% | 138k | $2.1M (exactly $2,073,567) | Spoonful Of Wonder | |
 | Slitterhead | $49.99 | 1,145 78% | 34k | $1.7M (exactly $1,717,156) | Bokeh Game Studio lnc. | |
 | Way of the Hunter 2 | · EA | $34.99 | 1,534 73% | 46k | $1.6M (exactly $1,610,240) | Nine Rocks Games |
 | Animal Shelter 2 | $24.99 | 1,204 79% | 36k | $903k (exactly $902,639) | Games Incubator | |
 | Pratfall | $7.99 | 2,797 90% | 84k | $670k (exactly $670,441) | Quad Head | |
 | Restore Your Island | $12.99 | 1,631 77% | 49k | $636k (exactly $635,601) | Paiband Game Studio | |
 | Anthro Heat | $29.99 | 629 92% | 19k | $566k (exactly $565,911) | Blue Lizard Studios |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.