Do I ship it?

Games › Mechanics › Quick-Time Events

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Quick-Time Events game?

Quick-Time Events

Of 447 developers who shipped a Quick-Time Events 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.. 565 more are announced, ×2.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $420 in the last 2 years and $450 over 4, against a market of $480 for a 4 / 10 build. 279 developers shipped in the last year and 565 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.9 times the market baseline, revenue flat on the market, 565 announced, ×2.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Quick-Time Events
Fig. 1 · this niche among 355
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 447
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $776 → $239 → $299 → $599 → $449 → $628 → $358 (still earning) → $150 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Quick-Time Events: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 447
Bottom 30% $119 (exactly $119)
Median $418 (exactly $418)
Top 25% $1.9k (exactly $1,915)
Top 5% $62k (exactly $61,817)
Developers, 2 yr 447
Released games 1,140
Announced 565
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
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 flat on the market, supply 60% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 16%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Quick-Time Events
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Quick-Time Events
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.90 or above
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $12.90 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 91% positive over 90,831 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $120, median $420, 1 in 4 over $1.9k, 1 in 20 over $61k.

3 in 10 developers made under $120. 9 in 10 of the 228 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 565 games are announced against 279 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.0 per shipper.

Plate 6 · every pair with this tag

All pairs with Quick-Time Events

111 pairs · ranked by verdict, then medianwith: mechanics · settings · any
  1. Quick-Time Events + Dating Sim Fair $15k 17 devs
  2. Quick-Time Events + Shoot 'Em Up Fair $1.2k 8 devs
  3. Life Sim + Quick-Time Events Fair $958 28 devs
  4. Simulation + Quick-Time Events Fair $748 116 devs
  5. Collectathon + Quick-Time Events Fair $720 15 devs
  6. Quick-Time Events + Resource Management Fair $719 46 devs
  7. Flight + Quick-Time Events Fair $657 9 devs
  8. Quick-Time Events + Aliens Fair $628 12 devs
  9. Quick-Time Events + Space Fair $597 16 devs
  10. Bullet Time + Quick-Time Events Long shot $390 10 devs
  11. Quick-Time Events + Demons Long shot $300 17 devs
  12. Quick-Time Events + Bullet Hell Long shot $239 27 devs
  13. FMV + Quick-Time Events Poor odds $43k 13 devs
  14. Quick-Time Events + Post-apocalyptic Poor odds $27k 8 devs
  15. Quick-Time Events + Romance Poor odds $15k 18 devs
  16. Open World + Quick-Time Events Poor odds $4.5k 9 devs
  17. Quick-Time Events + Visual Novel Poor odds $4.0k 26 devs
  18. Quick-Time Events + Choose Your Own Adventure Poor odds $4.0k 29 devs
  19. Quick-Time Events + Interactive Fiction Poor odds $3.6k 31 devs
  20. Quick-Time Events + Dark Fantasy Poor odds $3.6k 14 devs
  21. Sandbox + Quick-Time Events Poor odds $3.1k 9 devs
  22. Quick-Time Events + Walking Simulator Poor odds $1.9k 17 devs
  23. Management + Quick-Time Events Poor odds $1.7k 26 devs
  24. Quick-Time Events + Female Protagonist Poor odds $1.3k 45 devs
  25. Quick-Time Events + Modern Poor odds $1.3k 13 devs
  26. Quick-Time Events + Multiple Endings Poor odds $1.2k 42 devs
  27. Quick-Time Events + Inventory Management Poor odds $1.2k 18 devs
  28. Quick-Time Events + Investigation Poor odds $1.2k 16 devs
  29. Online Co-Op + Quick-Time Events Poor odds $1.0k 21 devs
  30. Third-Person Shooter + Quick-Time Events Poor odds $959 13 devs
  31. Quick-Time Events + Mystery Poor odds $898 42 devs
  32. Quick-Time Events + Turn-Based Combat Poor odds $898 18 devs
  33. Quick-Time Events + Detective Poor odds $898 12 devs
  34. Quick-Time Events + Time Management Poor odds $779 28 devs
  35. Quick-Time Events + Medieval Poor odds $748 20 devs
  36. Exploration + Quick-Time Events Poor odds $719 83 devs
  37. Choices Matter + Quick-Time Events Poor odds $719 60 devs
  38. Immersive Sim + Quick-Time Events Poor odds $719 36 devs
  39. Economy + Quick-Time Events Poor odds $718 20 devs
  40. Quick-Time Events + Idler Poor odds $718 19 devs
  41. Co-op + Quick-Time Events Poor odds $693 25 devs
  42. Character Customization + Quick-Time Events Poor odds $693 22 devs
  43. RPG + Quick-Time Events Poor odds $599 83 devs
  44. Quick-Time Events + Horror Poor odds $599 60 devs
  45. Quick-Time Events + Cyberpunk Poor odds $539 18 devs
  46. Driving + Quick-Time Events Poor odds $539 14 devs
  47. Quick-Time Events + Puzzle Poor odds $538 84 devs
  48. Quick-Time Events + Psychological Horror Poor odds $538 47 devs
  49. Quick-Time Events + Thriller Poor odds $538 26 devs
  50. Quick-Time Events + Supernatural Poor odds $538 25 devs
Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Call of Duty®: Black Ops III 2015 · $284M Stellar Blade™ 2025 · $110M Tomb Raider Game of the Year 2013 · $104M Resident Evil 4 (2005) 2014 · $47M Call of Duty®: Infinite Warfare 2016 · $31M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Call of Duty®: Black Ops III older $59.99 157,694 88% 4.7M $284M (exactly $283,801,892) Treyarch, Aspyr (Mac)
Stellar Blade™ $59.99 61,289 93% 1.8M $110M (exactly $110,301,813) SHIFT UP Corporation
Tomb Raider Game of the Year older $19.99 173,270 95% 5.2M $104M (exactly $103,910,019) Crystal Dynamics, Eidos-Montréal, Feral… (Crystal Dynamics, Eidos-Montréal, Feral Interactive (Mac), Nixxes)
Resident Evil 4 (2005) older $19.99 78,502 94% 2.4M $47M (exactly $47,077,649) Capcom
Call of Duty®: Infinite Warfare older $59.99 17,489 65% 525k $31M (exactly $31,474,953) Infinity Ward
Resident Evil 6 older $19.99 51,420 77% 1.5M $31M (exactly $30,836,574) Capcom
Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles older $59.99 16,545 87% 496k $30M (exactly $29,776,036) CyberConnect2
Resident Evil 5 older $19.99 48,521 87% 1.5M $29M (exactly $29,098,044) Capcom
The Quarry older $59.99 16,127 83% 484k $29M (exactly $29,023,762) Supermassive Games
The Walking Dead older $14.99 53,650 97% 1.6M $24M (exactly $24,126,405) Telltale Games
SONIC X SHADOW GENERATIONS $49.99 12,178 96% 365k $18M (exactly $18,263,347) Sonic Team
Until Dawn™ $59.99 3,564 82% 107k $6.4M (exactly $6,414,131) Ballistic Moon
Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles 2 $59.99 2,879 83% 86k $5.2M (exactly $5,181,336) CyberConnect2
A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead $29.99 2,331 74% 70k $2.1M (exactly $2,097,201) Stormind Games
Directive 8020 $49.99 1,337 63% 40k $2.0M (exactly $2,005,099) Supermassive Games
Hello Love: 18 Again $19.99 2,075 92% 62k $1.2M (exactly $1,244,378) 念念而忘(Echofall Studio)
Ship, Inc. $9.99 2,168 83% 65k $650k (exactly $649,750) Rogue Duck Interactive
PAC-MAN WORLD 2 Re-PAC $29.99 694 90% 21k $624k (exactly $624,392) NOW PRODUCTION Co., Ltd.
Lost But Found $6.99 2,316 71% 69k $486k (exactly $485,665) Rogue Duck Interactive

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.