Games › City Builder › City Builder + Action
Should I ship an Action City Builder?
City Builder + Action
Of 90 developers who shipped an Action City Builder 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.. 171 more are announced, ×4.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $3.8k, ×6.1 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $630; 1 in 20 cleared $1.2M, ×2034 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 171 games are announced against 42 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $628 (exactly $628) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.8k (exactly $3,838) |
| Top 25% | $34k (exactly $33,583) |
| Top 5% | $1.3M (exactly $1,277,361) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 90 |
| Released games | 281 |
| Announced | 171 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| 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 flat on the market, supply 15% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 10%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- City Builder
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Action
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- City Builder, Action; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Base Building, Strategy, Building
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 92% positive over 56,227 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $630. 8 in 10 of the 56 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 171 games are announced against 42 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
City Builder with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Visual NovelStrong odds
- + LogicFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + Hidden ObjectFair
- + ArcadeFair
- + RacingLong shot
- + RomePoor odds
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
- + HorrorPoor odds
- + Alternate HistoryPoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
- + DiplomacyPoor odds
Comparable games
Cities: Skylines 2015 · $198M 
Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition 2019 · $167M 
Jurassic World Evolution 2 2021 · $71M 
Jurassic World Evolution 2018 · $65M 
Age of Empires II (Retired) 2013 · $51M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Cities: Skylines | older | $29.99 | 220,465 92% | 6.6M | $198M (exactly $198,352,360) | Colossal Order |
| | Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition | older | $34.99 | 158,931 94% | 4.8M | $167M (exactly $166,829,871) | World's Edge, Forgotten Empires, Captur… (World's Edge, Forgotten Empires, CaptureAge, Tantalus Media, Wicked Witch, Feral Interactive) |
| | Jurassic World Evolution 2 | older | $59.99 | 39,644 90% | 1.2M | $71M (exactly $71,347,307) | Frontier Developments |
| | Jurassic World Evolution | older | $44.99 | 48,311 87% | 1.4M | $65M (exactly $65,205,357) | Frontier Developments |
| | Age of Empires II (Retired) | older | $19.99 | 84,818 95% | 2.5M | $51M (exactly $50,865,355) | Skybox Labs, Hidden Path Entertainment,… (Skybox Labs, Hidden Path Entertainment, Ensemble Studios, Forgotten Empires) |
 | FANTASY LIFE i: The Girl Who Steals Time | $59.99 | 11,771 91% | 353k | $21M (exactly $21,184,269) | LEVEL5 Inc. | |
 | Jurassic World Evolution 3 | $59.99 | 11,387 93% | 342k | $20M (exactly $20,493,184) | Frontier Developments | |
 | Bellwright | · EA older | $29.99 | 20,130 80% | 604k | $18M (exactly $18,110,961) | Donkey Crew |
 | Train Simulator Classic | older | $29.99 | 19,461 73% | 584k | $18M (exactly $17,509,062) | Dovetail Games |
 | Stronghold Crusader 2 | older | $39.99 | 12,619 73% | 379k | $15M (exactly $15,139,014) | Firefly Studios |
 | Thronefall | $12.99 | 22,966 96% | 689k | $8.9M (exactly $8,949,850) | GrizzlyGames, Mythwright | |
 | ZeroSpace | · EA | $39.99 | 1,161 78% | 35k | $1.4M (exactly $1,392,852) | Starlance Studios, Ironward |
 | Drill Core | $19.99 | 2,130 84% | 64k | $1.3M (exactly $1,277,361) | Hungry Couch Games | |
 | Border Pioneer | $14.99 | 1,675 86% | 50k | $753k (exactly $753,248) | Yahzj Games | |
 | Monsters are Coming! | $8.99 | 2,718 79% | 82k | $733k (exactly $733,045) | Ludogram | |
 | Anomaly President | · EA | $14.99 | 1,376 91% | 41k | $619k (exactly $618,787) | Phew Phew Games |
 | Omega Crafter | $24.99 | 529 77% | 16k | $397k (exactly $396,591) | Preferred Networks | |
 | Chinese Frontiers | $24.99 | 514 72% | 15k | $385k (exactly $385,346) | SolidGames |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.