Games › Action › Action + Trains
Should I ship a Train Action game?
Action + Trains
Of 44 developers who shipped a Train Action 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.. 80 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $3.8k, ×6.0 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $1.7M, ×2779 the market median. Revenue is down 35% on the market; 80 games are announced against 32 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $599 (exactly $599) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.8k (exactly $3,778) |
| Top 25% | $23k (exactly $23,361) |
| Top 5% | $1.7M (exactly $1,745,127) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 44 |
| Released games | 101 |
| Announced | 80 |
| Effort | 5 / 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 down 35% on the market, supply 165% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 11%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Action; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Co-op, Exploration
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Atmospheric, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 82% positive over 20,163 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $600. 6 in 10 of the 13 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 80 games are announced against 32 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Action with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Real-Time with PauseFair
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + PinballFair
- + Escape RoomFair
- + Football (American)Fair
- + BaseballFair
- + BilliardsFair
- + IdlerFair
- + TennisFair
- + Time AttackFair
- + TabletopFair
- + WuxiaPoor odds
Comparable games
Train Simulator Classic 2015 · $18M 
Choo-Choo Charles 2022 · $9.8M 
Unrailed! 2020 · $8.3M 
Voidtrain 2025 · $7.8M 
SimRail - The Railway Simulator 2024 · $5.6M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Train Simulator Classic | older | $29.99 | 19,461 73% | 584k | $18M (exactly $17,509,062) | Dovetail Games |
| | Choo-Choo Charles | older | $19.99 | 16,292 91% | 489k | $9.8M (exactly $9,770,312) | Two Star Games |
| | Unrailed! | older | $19.99 | 13,789 93% | 414k | $8.3M (exactly $8,269,263) | Indoor Astronaut |
| | Voidtrain | $29.99 | 8,713 73% | 261k | $7.8M (exactly $7,839,086) | HypeTrain Digital | |
| | SimRail - The Railway Simulator | $34.99 | 5,307 85% | 159k | $5.6M (exactly $5,570,758) | SimRail S.A. | |
 | The Final Station | older | $14.99 | 6,739 88% | 202k | $3.0M (exactly $3,030,528) | DO MY BEST |
 | Train Sim World® 4 | older | $29.99 | 3,322 79% | 100k | $3.0M (exactly $2,988,803) | Dovetail Games |
 | Zompiercer | · EA older | $19.99 | 4,562 88% | 137k | $2.7M (exactly $2,735,831) | DDDimanN |
 | Train Sim World® 2020 | older | $12.99 | 5,912 77% | 177k | $2.3M (exactly $2,303,906) | Dovetail Games |
 | Denshattack! | $19.99 | 2,910 98% | 87k | $1.7M (exactly $1,745,127) | Undercoders | |
 | Unrailed 2: Back on Track | $19.99 | 1,794 88% | 54k | $1.1M (exactly $1,075,862) | Indoor Astronaut | |
 | EverRail | · EA | $14.99 | 372 69% | 11k | $167k (exactly $167,288) | Aesir Interactive |
 | Goblin Company | $9.99 | 282 81% | 8.5k | $85k (exactly $84,515) | BitBorne Studio | |
 | Apocalypse Express | $9.99 | 262 81% | 7.9k | $79k (exactly $78,521) | Llamaware Studios | |
 | Fright Train | $15.99 | 139 89% | 4.2k | $67k (exactly $66,678) | WildArts Games | |
 | Magenta Horizon - Neverending Harvest | $10.99 | 175 89% | 5.3k | $58k (exactly $57,698) | Maddison Baek | |
 | PROFITS 2167: Planetary Resource Optimization & Freight Infrastructure Technician Simulator | · EA | $6.99 | 209 98% | 6.3k | $44k (exactly $43,827) | Simple Software Solutions |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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