The niche at a glance

Heist on Steam: 503 released games, 166 in the last 12 months, 294 announced and still unreleased. Median lifetime reviews: 18. 40% of them never reached 10 reviews. Free to play: 13%. Heist is a Steam store tag, applied by the developer and refined by players; a game carries several tags at once, so niche counts overlap and do not add up to the size of the Steam catalogue. Data as of .

What releases end up with

lifetime reviews · released 3 years ago to 90 days ago · failures included189 releases
p100
p252
median18
p75127
p901,265
40% of them never reached 10 reviewsMedian price $8.23 · 13% free-to-play

Releases per year

outcomes count only games released more than 90 days ago, anything newer has not had time to gather reviews
2019
15med 116 · 27% unseen
2020
31med 35 · 23% unseen
2021
49med 64 · 33% unseen
2022
46med 38 · 28% unseen
2023
49med 37 · 24% unseen
2024
61med 27 · 30% unseen
2025
62med 20 · 32% unseen
2026
99med 0 · 64% unseen · 41 too fresh

Heist × presentation: what the pairings end up with

every presentation tag shipped with Heist at least 5 times · same window
share reaching 500 reviews, shrunk towards the catalogue · click a row to open the concept
Heist ×3 y12 mmedian≥500adjusted vs chancelast hitwho made it
Funny42165328.6% 17%–44%21.5%
cliché ×2.06125 d
One-armed robber
Crime Scene Cleaner
Crime Boss: Rockay City
One-armed robber · Crime Scene Cleaner · Crime Boss: Rockay City
First-Person52223225.0% 15%–38%19.9%
cliché ×2.09125 d
Arena Breakout: Infinite
One-armed robber
Crime Scene Cleaner
Arena Breakout: Infinite · One-armed robber · Crime Scene Cleaner
Dark Humor94414under 2018.4%
cliché ×2.11250 d
Crime Scene Cleaner: Prologue
Turnip Boy Robs a Bank
Slut Squad
Crime Scene Cleaner: Prologue · Turnip Boy Robs a Bank · Slut Squad
Horror18832under 2016.7%
ordinary ×0.86125 d
Dark Hours: Prologue
Burglin' Gnomes
Dark Hours
Dark Hours: Prologue · Burglin' Gnomes · Dark Hours
Realistic2785822.2% 11%–41%15.6%
cliché ×2.03393 d
Arena Breakout: Infinite
Crime Scene Cleaner
Crime Boss: Rockay City
Arena Breakout: Infinite · Crime Scene Cleaner · Crime Boss: Rockay City
Atmospheric42142119.0% 10%–33%15.1%
ordinary ×1.10125 d
Crime Scene Cleaner
Star Wars Outlaws
Dark Hours: Prologue
Crime Scene Cleaner · Star Wars Outlaws · Dark Hours: Prologue
Noir11317under 2014.0%
cliché ×6.40250 d
Arena Breakout: Infinite
The Precinct
Jackal
Arena Breakout: Infinite · The Precinct · Jackal
2.5D51272under 2013.3%
ordinary ×0.97390 d
Warborne Above Ashes
江湖客栈-The Jianghu
Warborne Above Ashes · 江湖客栈-The Jianghu
Difficult52468under 2013.3%
ordinary ×0.76215 d
Jackal
Net.Attack() - Code or Die!
Jackal · Net.Attack() - Code or Die!
Gore5319under 2013.3%
ordinary ×1.06250 d
Crime Scene Cleaner
Jackal
Crime Scene Cleaner · Jackal
Cartoony2061920.0% 8%–42%13.3%
cliché ×1.65132 d
The Greatest Penguin Heist of All Time
Just Another Night Shift
Clank!
The Greatest Penguin Heist of All Time · Just Another Night Shift · Clank!
Dark Comedy6219under 2012.8%
cliché ×2.96502 d
The Break-In
Turnip Boy Robs a Bank
The Break-In · Turnip Boy Robs a Bank
Psychological6229under 2012.8%
ordinary ×0.90781 d
Crime Scene Cleaner: Prologue
Concord™
Crime Scene Cleaner: Prologue · Concord™
Pixel Graphics2481916.7% 7%–36%12.1%
ordinary ×0.65328 d
江湖客栈-The Jianghu
Turnip Boy Robs a Bank
Brush Burial: Gutter World
江湖客栈-The Jianghu · Turnip Boy Robs a Bank · Brush Burial: Gutter World
Stylized33141915.2% 7%–31%11.9%
cliché ×1.75125 d
One-armed robber
Burglin' Gnomes
江湖客栈-The Jianghu
One-armed robber · Burglin' Gnomes · 江湖客栈-The Jianghu
16 pairings cleared 20 releases; 30 more never reached 5 and are not listed. Compared against 6.7% for games that carry any tags at all.

About these numbers

“Adjusted” is the share pulled towards the catalogue with the weight of twenty releases: the top of any ranked list is optimistic (out of a hundred pairings one will show 35 % on 23 releases by luck alone), and the adjustment is what stops a small lucky group from leading. The band next to the raw share is the 95 % interval. This list is the same for everyone today; the second opinion is the description-based one on Pitch comps.