Should I ship a Philosophical game?
Philosophical
Of 595 developers who shipped a Philosophical 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.. 959 more are announced, ×2.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 2 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.1k, ×9.5 the market's $120 for a 2 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $270; 1 in 20 cleared $170k, ×1446 the market median. Revenue is up 10% on the market; 959 games are announced against 329 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $267 (exactly $267) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.1k (exactly $1,134) |
| Top 25% | $5.8k (exactly $5,838) |
| Top 5% | $172k (exactly $172,028) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 595 |
| Released games | 1,683 |
| Announced | 959 |
| Effort | 2 / 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 up 10% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 19%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Philosophical
- effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 2 / 10 · static 2D art, simple logic
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 92% positive over 16,818 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $270. 8 in 10 of the 348 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 959 games are announced against 329 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 per shipper.
All pairs with Philosophical
No pair with Philosophical has 25 games yet.
Comparable games
SOMA 2015 · $42M 
The Talos Principle 2014 · $26M 
The Witness 2016 · $21M 
Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy 2017 · $18M 
The Talos Principle 2 2023 · $11M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | SOMA | older | $29.99 | 46,772 95% | 1.4M | $42M (exactly $42,080,768) | Frictional Games |
| | The Talos Principle | older | $29.99 | 29,237 95% | 877k | $26M (exactly $26,304,529) | Croteam |
| | The Witness | older | $39.99 | 17,197 85% | 516k | $21M (exactly $20,631,241) | Thekla, Inc. |
| | Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy | older | $7.99 | 75,118 82% | 2.3M | $18M (exactly $18,005,785) | Bennett Foddy |
| | The Talos Principle 2 | older | $29.99 | 12,478 94% | 374k | $11M (exactly $11,226,457) | Croteam |
 | The Forgotten City | older | $24.99 | 11,159 96% | 335k | $8.4M (exactly $8,365,902) | Modern Storyteller |
 | The Last Campfire | older | $14.99 | 17,406 97% | 522k | $7.8M (exactly $7,827,478) | Hello Games |
 | BioShock® 2 | older | $19.99 | 11,467 88% | 344k | $6.9M (exactly $6,876,760) | 2K Marin, 2K China, Digital Extremes, 2… (2K Marin, 2K China, Digital Extremes, 2K Australia) |
 | Before Your Eyes | older | $9.99 | 21,236 97% | 637k | $6.4M (exactly $6,364,429) | GoodbyeWorld Games, Nice Dream |
 | The Beginner's Guide | older | $9.99 | 19,902 88% | 597k | $6.0M (exactly $5,964,629) | Everything Unlimited Ltd. |
 | KARMA: The Dark World | $24.99 | 3,963 90% | 119k | $3.0M (exactly $2,971,061) | POLLARD STUDIO LLC | |
 | MOLE | $12.99 | 3,534 97% | 106k | $1.4M (exactly $1,377,200) | Off Black Creations | |
 | The Talos Principle: Reawakened | $39.99 | 1,085 90% | 33k | $1.3M (exactly $1,301,674) | Croteam | |
 | Phonopolis | $24.99 | 1,537 92% | 46k | $1.2M (exactly $1,152,289) | Amanita Design | |
 | No Sleep For Kaname Date - From AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES | $39.99 | 835 79% | 25k | $1.0M (exactly $1,001,750) | Spike Chunsoft Co., Ltd. | |
 | The Lantern of the Laughless Saint | · EA | $19.99 | 1,460 89% | 44k | $876k (exactly $875,562) | NerveLabs |
 | One-Eyed Likho | $19.99 | 1,155 93% | 35k | $693k (exactly $692,654) | Morteshka | |
 | Keeper | $19.99 | 1,031 91% | 31k | $618k (exactly $618,291) | Double Fine Productions | |
 | Schrödinger's Call | $17.99 | 1,124 94% | 34k | $607k (exactly $606,623) | Acrobatic Chirimenjako | |
 | Titanium Court | $14.99 | 1,094 94% | 33k | $492k (exactly $491,972) | AP Thomson |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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