Should I ship an Episodic game?
Episodic
Of 62 developers who shipped an Episodic 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.. 74 more are announced, ×2.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $21k, ×44 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $3.9k; 1 in 20 cleared $1.7M, ×3604 the market median. Revenue is down 50% on the market; 74 games are announced against 32 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $3.8k (exactly $3,835) |
|---|---|
| Median | $21k (exactly $20,679) |
| Top 25% | $83k (exactly $82,745) |
| Top 5% | $1.7M (exactly $1,711,698) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 62 |
| Released games | 293 |
| Announced | 74 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 50% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 17%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Episodic
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $15.99 or above
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $15.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 96% positive over 319,819 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $3.9k. 5 in 10 of the 48 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 74 games are announced against 32 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.3 per shipper.
All pairs with Episodic
No pair with Episodic has 25 games yet.
Comparable games
Dispatch 2025 · $157M 
DELTARUNE 2025 · $94M 
Quantum Break 2016 · $28M 
The Walking Dead 2012 · $24M 
Alan Wake 2012 · $21M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Dispatch | $29.99 | 174,624 97% | 5.2M | $157M (exactly $157,109,213) | AdHoc Studio | |
| | DELTARUNE | $24.99 | 124,894 98% | 3.7M | $94M (exactly $93,633,032) | tobyfox | |
| | Quantum Break | older | $39.99 | 23,141 86% | 694k | $28M (exactly $27,762,258) | Remedy Entertainment |
| | The Walking Dead | older | $14.99 | 53,650 97% | 1.6M | $24M (exactly $24,126,405) | Telltale Games |
| | Alan Wake | older | $14.99 | 45,662 89% | 1.4M | $21M (exactly $20,534,201) | Remedy Entertainment |
 | Life is Strange: Before the Storm | older | $16.99 | 33,504 93% | 1.0M | $17M (exactly $17,076,989) | Deck Nine, Feral Interactive (Mac), Fer… (Deck Nine, Feral Interactive (Mac), Feral Interactive (Linux)) |
 | Resident Evil Revelations 2 | older | $19.99 | 25,446 78% | 763k | $15M (exactly $15,259,966) | CAPCOM Co., Ltd. |
 | The Wolf Among Us | older | $14.99 | 32,494 97% | 975k | $15M (exactly $14,612,552) | Telltale |
 | The Walking Dead: Season Two | older | $14.99 | 26,848 96% | 805k | $12M (exactly $12,073,546) | Telltale Games |
 | The Walking Dead: The Final Season | older | $19.99 | 17,447 94% | 523k | $10M (exactly $10,462,966) | Telltale Games |
 | Lost Records: Bloom & Rage | $39.99 | 5,873 86% | 176k | $7.0M (exactly $7,045,838) | DON'T NOD | |
 | Fears to Fathom® - Scratch Creek | $7.99 | 7,141 75% | 214k | $1.7M (exactly $1,711,698) | Rayll | |
 | FreshWomen - Season 2 | $13.99 | 2,663 82% | 80k | $1.1M (exactly $1,117,661) | Pantsu Interactive | |
 | Race of Life - Act 1 | $13.99 | 1,183 94% | 35k | $497k (exactly $496,505) | Underground Studio | |
 | LISC - Season 1 | $15.99 | 869 83% | 26k | $417k (exactly $416,859) | MOODY | |
 | Forbidden Fantasy | $6.99 | 1,459 88% | 44k | $306k (exactly $305,952) | OppaiMan Studios | |
 | Breeze of Passion | $14.99 | 605 87% | 18k | $272k (exactly $272,068) | L7team | |
 | Bright Lord | $14.99 | 508 80% | 15k | $228k (exactly $228,448) | KissKiss Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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