Should I ship a Hacking game?
Hacking
Of 249 developers who shipped a Hacking 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.. 430 more are announced, ×2.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.5k, ×3.2 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $320k, ×688 the market median. Revenue is up 30% on the market; 430 games are announced against 165 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $446 (exactly $446) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.5k (exactly $1,498) |
| Top 25% | $8.6k (exactly $8,626) |
| Top 5% | $327k (exactly $326,958) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 249 |
| Released games | 674 |
| Announced | 430 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 30% on the market, supply 95% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Hacking
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 89% positive over 72,920 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $450. 8 in 10 of the 94 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 430 games are announced against 165 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 per shipper.
All pairs with Hacking
- Combat + Hacking Poor odds $449
- Co-op + Hacking Dead $80k
- Open World + Hacking Dead $68k
- Action RPG + Hacking Dead $19k
- PvP + Hacking Dead $1.8k
- Puzzle Platformer + Hacking Dead $419
- Hack and Slash + Hacking Dead $239
Comparable games
Watch_Dogs® 2 2016 · $143M 
PRAGMATA 2026 · $59M 
Watch_Dogs™ 2014 · $30M 
Crime Scene Cleaner 2024 · $29M 
Watch Dogs®: Legion 2023 · $21M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Watch_Dogs® 2 | older | $49.99 | 95,242 82% | 2.9M | $143M (exactly $142,834,427) | Ubisoft |
| | PRAGMATA | $59.99 | 32,885 96% | 987k | $59M (exactly $59,183,134) | CAPCOM Co., Ltd. | |
| | Watch_Dogs™ | older | $19.99 | 49,193 79% | 1.5M | $30M (exactly $29,501,042) | Ubisoft |
| | Crime Scene Cleaner | older | $29.99 | 32,469 98% | 974k | $29M (exactly $29,212,359) | President Studio |
| | Watch Dogs®: Legion | older | $59.99 | 11,891 56% | 357k | $21M (exactly $21,400,233) | Ubisoft Toronto |
 | Call of Duty®: Ghosts | older | $39.99 | 12,976 66% | 389k | $16M (exactly $15,567,307) | Infinity Ward |
 | Shadows of Doubt | $24.99 | 14,646 82% | 439k | $11M (exactly $10,980,106) | ColePowered Games | |
 | Internet Cafe Simulator 2 | older | $19.99 | 12,299 74% | 369k | $7.4M (exactly $7,375,710) | Cheesecake Dev |
 | Hacknet | older | $9.99 | 16,910 93% | 507k | $5.1M (exactly $5,067,927) | Team Fractal Alligator |
 | Cyber Manhunt | older | $9.99 | 14,520 92% | 436k | $4.4M (exactly $4,351,644) | Aluba Van+ |
 | Streamer Life Simulator 2 | $19.99 | 6,751 81% | 203k | $4.0M (exactly $4,048,575) | Cheesecake Dev | |
 | Crime Simulator | $14.99 | 6,244 82% | 187k | $2.8M (exactly $2,807,927) | CookieDev | |
 | Peripeteia | · EA | $24.99 | 3,120 86% | 94k | $2.3M (exactly $2,339,064) | Ninth Exodus |
 | Cyber Manhunt 2: New World - The Hacking Simulator | $12.99 | 5,191 92% | 156k | $2.0M (exactly $2,022,933) | Aluba Van+ | |
 | Agent 64: Spies Never Die | $21.64 | 863 86% | 26k | $560k (exactly $560,260) | Replicant D6 | |
 | HackHub - Ultimate Hacker Simulator | $16.99 | 937 88% | 28k | $478k (exactly $477,589) | HotBunny | |
 | Cheaters Cheetah | $9.99 | 1,406 59% | 42k | $421k (exactly $421,378) | Acmore Games | |
 | Deathground | · EA | $14.99 | 877 61% | 26k | $394k (exactly $394,387) | Jaw Drop Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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