Interactive fiction
A tough niche: many competitors for the demand that exists. Average across 4 platforms: niche 40/100, demand 70/100, competition 75/100, development cost 24/100. On Steam: 5,753 games and 36,509 players online; 12% of games reach 500+ reviews, average spend per player is $10.18.
Niche
40/100
Demand (0–100)
70/100
Competition
75/100
Dev cost
24/100
Spend per player
$10.18
Hit rate (500+ reviews)
12%
Key findings
- Ranked #89 of 100 in the overall niche ranking.
- The niche looks best on Google Play (45/100) and weakest on Steam (34/100).
- Competition is above typical: 75/100 vs a median of 57/100 — standing out will take a strong hook or marketing.
- Development is cheaper than typical: index 24/100 vs a median of 39/100 — the genre is within reach of a small team.
- On Steam, only 12% of games reached 500+ reviews — less often than usual (median 16%).
- Small-studio games make up 49% of all Steam games with this tag.
By platform
| Platform | Popularity | Games / leaders’ share | Competition | Niche | Dev cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steam | 52/100 | 5,753 | 73/100 | 34/100 | 28/100 |
| itch.io | 97/100 | 43,596 | 82/100 | 41/100 | 18/100 |
| Yandex Games | no data | ||||
| Google Play | 69/100 | 81% | 71/100 | 45/100 | 27/100 |
| App Store | 61/100 | 78% | 74/100 | 40/100 | 23/100 |
Example games — Steam
AAA / big hits
Life is Strange 2DONTNOD Entertainment, Feral Interactive (Mac), Feral Interactive (Linux) · $31.96
Life is Strange: Before the StormDeck Nine, Feral Interactive (Mac), Feral Interactive (Linux) · $16.99
Indie
鬼谷八荒 Tale of Immortal鬼谷工作室 · $19.99
Mirror 2: Project XKAGAMI Ⅱ WORKs · $1.99
To the MoonFreebird Games · $9.99
Related genres
Data updated October 12, 2026 Methodology