Should I ship a VR game?
VR
Of 690 developers who shipped a VR 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.. 1,137 more are announced, ×3.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.8k, ×2.9 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $990k, ×1583 the market median. Revenue is up 40% on the market; 1,137 games are announced against 354 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $299 (exactly $299) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.8k (exactly $1,799) |
| Top 25% | $21k (exactly $20,990) |
| Top 5% | $994k (exactly $994,425) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 690 |
| Released games | 6,659 |
| Announced | 1,137 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $10.00 |
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 40% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 19%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- VR
- effort 6 / 10 · low · headset interaction, comfort and per-device testing
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Price point
- $10.00 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $10.00.
The top 10 games average 82% positive over 355,665 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 8 in 10 of the 461 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 1,137 games are announced against 354 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.2 per shipper.
All pairs with VR
No pair with VR has 25 games yet.
Comparable games
No Man's Sky 2016 · $567M 
Forza Horizon 5 2021 · $468M 
Phasmophobia 2020 · EA · $410M 
Ready or Not 2023 · $398M 
Subnautica 2018 · $307M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | No Man's Sky | older | $59.99 | 315,054 83% | 9.5M | $567M (exactly $567,002,684) | Hello Games |
| | Forza Horizon 5 | older | $59.99 | 260,218 89% | 7.8M | $468M (exactly $468,314,335) | Playground Games |
| | Phasmophobia | · EA older | $19.99 | 684,009 94% | 21M | $410M (exactly $410,200,197) | Kinetic Games |
| | Ready or Not | older | $49.99 | 265,219 79% | 8.0M | $398M (exactly $397,748,934) | VOID Interactive |
| | Subnautica | older | $29.99 | 341,390 97% | 10M | $307M (exactly $307,148,583) | Unknown Worlds Entertainment |
 | BeamNG.drive | · EA older | $24.99 | 388,236 97% | 12M | $291M (exactly $291,060,529) | BeamNG |
 | Sons Of The Forest | older | $29.99 | 284,572 88% | 8.5M | $256M (exactly $256,029,428) | Endnight Games Ltd |
 | Resident Evil 4 | older | $39.99 | 186,701 97% | 5.6M | $224M (exactly $223,985,190) | CAPCOM Co., Ltd. |
 | Forza Horizon 6 | $69.99 | 86,730 82% | 2.6M | $182M (exactly $182,106,981) | Playground Games | |
 | Half-Life: Alyx | older | $59.99 | 93,001 98% | 2.8M | $167M (exactly $167,373,900) | Valve |
 | Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020) 40th Anniversary Edition | $59.99 | 70,073 78% | 2.1M | $126M (exactly $126,110,378) | Asobo Studio | |
 | Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 | $69.99 | 21,633 59% | 649k | $45M (exactly $45,422,810) | Asobo Studio | |
 | F1® 25 | $49.99 | 25,395 87% | 762k | $38M (exactly $38,084,882) | Codemasters | |
 | Pavlov | $24.99 | 37,865 88% | 1.1M | $28M (exactly $28,387,390) | Vankrupt Games | |
 | Assetto Corsa EVO | · EA | $39.99 | 16,545 60% | 496k | $20M (exactly $19,849,036) | KUNOS Simulazioni |
 | Le Mans Ultimate | $39.99 | 15,068 79% | 452k | $18M (exactly $18,077,080) | Studio 397 | |
 | Hot Dogs, Horseshoes & Hand Grenades | $19.99 | 22,774 97% | 683k | $14M (exactly $13,657,568) | RUST LTD. | |
 | Five Nights at Freddy's: Secret of the Mimic | $39.99 | 10,874 86% | 326k | $13M (exactly $13,045,538) | Steel Wool Studios | |
 | Liar's Bar | · EA | $6.99 | 48,708 89% | 1.5M | $10M (exactly $10,214,068) | Curve Animation |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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