Should I ship a Sci-fi game?
Sci-fi
Of 3,985 developers who shipped a Sci-fi 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.. 7,570 more are announced, ×3.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $900, ×1.9 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $420k, ×887 the market median. Revenue is down 25% on the market; 7,570 games are announced against 2,371 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $179 (exactly $179) |
|---|---|
| Median | $897 (exactly $897) |
| Top 25% | $7.9k (exactly $7,913) |
| Top 5% | $421k (exactly $421,378) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 3,985 |
| Released games | 13,382 |
| Announced | 7,570 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 25% on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Sci-fi
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Price point
- $6.99 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 $6.99.
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 1,176,903 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $180. 8 in 10 of the 2,072 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 7,570 games are announced against 2,371 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.2 per shipper.
All pairs with Sci-fi
- Bullet Time + Sci-fi Poor odds $390
- Music-Based Procedural Generation + Sci-fi Poor odds $359
- Tabletop + Sci-fi Poor odds $300
- Hero Shooter + Sci-fi Poor odds $269
- MMORPG + Sci-fi Dead $3.3k
- Otome + Sci-fi Dead $3.1k
- Quick-Time Events + Sci-fi Dead $479
- 3D Fighter + Sci-fi Dead $449
- Flight + Sci-fi Dead $390
- Arena Shooter + Sci-fi Dead $360
- 3D Platformer + Sci-fi Dead $359
- Puzzle Platformer + Sci-fi Dead $359
- Hidden Object + Sci-fi Dead $359
- MOBA + Sci-fi Dead $359
- Arcade + Sci-fi Dead $300
- Top-Down Shooter + Sci-fi Dead $300
- Score Attack + Sci-fi Dead $300
- Mystery Dungeon + Sci-fi Dead $300
- Trading Card Game + Sci-fi Dead $300
- Minigames + Sci-fi Dead $300
- Boxing + Sci-fi Dead $300
- Sokoban + Sci-fi Dead $210
- Match 3 + Sci-fi Dead $180
- 2D Fighter + Sci-fi Dead $179
- Party Game + Sci-fi Dead $179
- Runner + Sci-fi Dead $150
- Solitaire + Sci-fi Dead $150
- Battle Royale + Sci-fi Dead $60
Comparable games
Cyberpunk 2077 2020 · $1.6B 
HELLDIVERS™ 2 2024 · $1.0B 
No Man's Sky 2016 · $567M 
ARC Raiders 2025 · $359M 
Subnautica 2018 · $307M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Cyberpunk 2077 | older | $59.99 | 883,400 87% | 27M | $1.6B (exactly $1,589,854,980) | CD PROJEKT RED |
| | HELLDIVERS™ 2 | older | $39.99 | 838,901 76% | 25M | $1.0B (exactly $1,006,429,530) | Arrowhead Game Studios |
| | No Man's Sky | older | $59.99 | 315,054 83% | 9.5M | $567M (exactly $567,002,684) | Hello Games |
| | ARC Raiders | $39.99 | 299,346 82% | 9.0M | $359M (exactly $359,125,396) | Embark Studios | |
| | Subnautica | older | $29.99 | 341,390 97% | 10M | $307M (exactly $307,148,583) | Unknown Worlds Entertainment |
 | Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 | older | $59.99 | 168,628 84% | 5.1M | $303M (exactly $303,479,812) | Saber Interactive |
 | Halo: The Master Chief Collection | older | $39.99 | 239,603 92% | 7.2M | $287M (exactly $287,451,719) | 343 Industries, Splash Damage, Ruffian… (343 Industries, Splash Damage, Ruffian Games, Bungie, Saber Interactive) |
 | Call of Duty®: Black Ops III | older | $59.99 | 157,694 88% | 4.7M | $284M (exactly $283,801,892) | Treyarch, Aspyr (Mac) |
 | Satisfactory | older | $39.99 | 234,993 97% | 7.0M | $282M (exactly $281,921,102) | Coffee Stain Studios |
 | Deep Rock Galactic | older | $29.99 | 303,142 97% | 9.1M | $273M (exactly $272,736,857) | Ghost Ship Games |
 | S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl | $59.99 | 106,592 81% | 3.2M | $192M (exactly $191,833,622) | GSC Game World | |
 | Borderlands 4 | $69.99 | 57,874 59% | 1.7M | $122M (exactly $121,518,038) | Gearbox Software | |
 | Split Fiction | $49.99 | 78,378 97% | 2.4M | $118M (exactly $117,543,487) | Hazelight Studios | |
 | Subnautica 2 | · EA | $29.99 | 116,852 91% | 3.5M | $105M (exactly $105,131,744) | Unknown Worlds Entertainment |
 | R.E.P.O. | · EA | $9.99 | 341,004 96% | 10M | $102M (exactly $102,198,899) | semiwork |
 | Dune: Awakening | $49.99 | 66,844 71% | 2.0M | $100M (exactly $100,245,947) | Funcom | |
 | PRAGMATA | $59.99 | 32,885 96% | 987k | $59M (exactly $59,183,134) | CAPCOM Co., Ltd. | |
 | Marathon | $39.99 | 44,919 81% | 1.3M | $54M (exactly $53,889,324) | Bungie | |
 | DOOM: The Dark Ages | $49.99 | 32,209 88% | 966k | $48M (exactly $48,303,837) | id Software |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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