Do I ship it?

GamesAutomationAutomation + 3D Platformer

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a 3D Platformer Automation game?

Automation + 3D Platformer

Of 25 developers who shipped a 3D Platformer Automation 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.. 21 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $450, ×0.7 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $150. Revenue is up 360% on the market; 21 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 0.7 times the market baseline, revenue up 360% on the market, 21 announced, ×1.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Automation + 3D Platformer
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 25
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $449 → $210 → $1.5k → $539 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Automation + 3D Platformer: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 25
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $450 (exactly $450)
Top 25% $2.5k (exactly $2,545)
Top 5% $52k (exactly $52,220)
Developers, 2 yr 25
Released games 53
Announced 21
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $6.99

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 up 360% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 19%, 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.

Automation
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
3D Platformer
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Automation, 3D Platformer; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Adventure, Collectathon
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
Art
8 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 70% positive over 728 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $150, median $450, 1 in 4 over $2.5k, 1 in 20 over $52k.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 13 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 21 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Automation with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Job SimulatorStrong odds36 devs · median $57k · 31 announced
  2. + Female ProtagonistStrong odds27 devs · median $4.5k · 32 announced
  3. + Open World Survival CraftFair28 devs · median $307k · 37 announced
  4. + HorrorFair19 devs · median $8.0k · 29 announced
  5. + HistoricalFair26 devs · median $7.9k · 24 announced
  6. + UndergroundFair20 devs · median $7.4k · 32 announced
  7. + Class-BasedFair19 devs · median $6.6k · 22 announced
  8. + MiningFair105 devs · median $4.9k · 164 announced
  9. + Auto BattlerFair112 devs · median $4.5k · 153 announced
  10. + ProgrammingFair84 devs · median $3.8k · 102 announced
  11. + FishingFair40 devs · median $3.4k · 46 announced
  12. + Turn-Based TacticsFair28 devs · median $2.9k · 36 announced

All 135 pairs on the Automation page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Cultivation Magic World · EA $12.99 276 78% 8.3k $108k (exactly $107,557) DMG Studio
XiuzhenWorld2 $12.99 134 67% 4.0k $52k (exactly $52,220) Noforgetit
Laundry & Supermarket Simulator $9.99 86 77% 2.6k $26k (exactly $25,774) SmartPlayGames
Fun Park Simulator · EA $12.99 63 58% 1.9k $25k (exactly $24,551) Flugames
3D PrintMaster Simulator Printer older $9.99 65 38% 2.0k $19k (exactly $19,480) SimuVerse Studios
BridgeTeam: Ship Simulator · EA older $29.99 14 35% 420 $13k (exactly $12,596) Enrych Media Ltd.
The Lilliput Workshop $7.99 51 88% 1.5k $12k (exactly $12,225) Cotton Game
Capri Care · EA $12.99 13 100% 390 $5.1k (exactly $5,066) Jdfskitz, Kiyoshirei, Dark_KissQ121
Poop Spotter ~ The game to improve the quality of poop~ older $2.99 46 95% 1.4k $4.1k (exactly $4,126) EXO Games
Block Motion older $14.99 9 100% 270 $4.0k (exactly $4,047) Daniel Willett
Bottomless Pit Supervisor $4.99 17 58% 510 $2.5k (exactly $2,545) sudo make
Forest Factory Simulator $3.99 17 41% 510 $2.0k (exactly $2,035) Samle Indie Studio
NEON $0.99 61 37% 1.8k $1.8k (exactly $1,812) Logna Blue
Hexfactory $4.99 10 60% 300 $1.5k (exactly $1,497) Aquila Industrial

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