Should I ship a Satire game?
Satire
Of 384 developers who shipped a Satire 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.. 663 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.1k, ×2.3 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $330k, ×698 the market median. Revenue is up 35% on the market; 663 games are announced against 236 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $299 (exactly $299) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.1k (exactly $1,075) |
| Top 25% | $8.9k (exactly $8,858) |
| Top 5% | $331k (exactly $331,429) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 384 |
| Released games | 1,080 |
| Announced | 663 |
| 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 up 35% on the market, supply 55% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 18%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Satire
- 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 $16.99 or above
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $16.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 89% positive over 37,122 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 8 in 10 of the 207 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 663 games are announced against 236 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 per shipper.
All pairs with Satire
No pair with Satire has 25 games yet.
Comparable games
Grand Theft Auto IV: The Complete Edition 2020 · $108M 
South Park™: The Stick of Truth™ 2014 · $55M 
POSTAL 2 2012 · $35M 
South Park™: The Fractured But Whole™ 2017 · $29M 
Maneater 2021 · $26M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Grand Theft Auto IV: The Complete Edition | older | $19.99 | 180,637 83% | 5.4M | $108M (exactly $108,328,009) | Rockstar North, Rockstar Toronto |
| | South Park™: The Stick of Truth™ | older | $29.99 | 60,770 97% | 1.8M | $55M (exactly $54,674,769) | Obsidian Entertainment |
| | POSTAL 2 | older | $9.99 | 117,648 96% | 3.5M | $35M (exactly $35,259,106) | Running With Scissors |
| | South Park™: The Fractured But Whole™ | older | $29.99 | 31,985 85% | 960k | $29M (exactly $28,776,904) | Ubisoft San Francisco |
| | Maneater | older | $39.99 | 21,790 87% | 654k | $26M (exactly $26,141,463) | Tripwire Interactive |
 | The Stanley Parable | older | $14.99 | 40,292 92% | 1.2M | $18M (exactly $18,119,312) | Galactic Cafe |
 | Bully: Scholarship Edition | older | $14.99 | 37,562 84% | 1.1M | $17M (exactly $16,891,631) | Rockstar New England |
 | Saints Row: The Third | older | $9.99 | 48,877 95% | 1.5M | $15M (exactly $14,648,437) | Volition |
 | Tactical Breach Wizards | older | $19.99 | 11,485 97% | 345k | $6.9M (exactly $6,887,554) | Suspicious Developments |
 | Saints Row | older | $29.99 | 5,765 61% | 173k | $5.2M (exactly $5,186,770) | Volition |
 | Nubby's Number Factory | $4.99 | 18,138 97% | 544k | $2.7M (exactly $2,715,259) | MogDogBlog Productions | |
 | Baby Steps | $19.99 | 2,355 90% | 71k | $1.4M (exactly $1,412,294) | Gabe Cuzzillo, Maxi Boch, Bennett Foddy | |
 | Discounty | $19.99 | 2,322 82% | 70k | $1.4M (exactly $1,392,503) | Crinkle Cut Games | |
 | Kindergarten 3 | $19.99 | 1,774 94% | 53k | $1.1M (exactly $1,063,868) | Con Man Games, Sean Young | |
 | Class of '09: The Flip Side | $9.99 | 3,356 57% | 101k | $1.0M (exactly $1,005,793) | SBN3 | |
 | Sintopia | $34.99 | 951 80% | 29k | $998k (exactly $998,265) | Piraknights Games | |
 | Restaurats | $19.90 | 1,640 89% | 49k | $979k (exactly $979,080) | toR Studio | |
 | Dungeon Rampage | · EA | $9.99 | 3,109 91% | 93k | $932k (exactly $931,767) | Gamebreaking Studios |
 | Agefield High: Rock the School | $29.99 | 951 36% | 29k | $856k (exactly $855,615) | Refugium Games | |
 | Politics The Game | $9.99 | 2,526 95% | 76k | $757k (exactly $757,042) | Simplicity Games |
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.