Games › Action › Action + Transportation
Should I ship a Transportation Action game?
Action + Transportation
Of 42 developers who shipped a Transportation 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.. 59 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 $3.1k, ×5.0 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $720; 1 in 20 cleared $420k, ×684 the market median. Revenue is up 60% on the market; 59 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $716 (exactly $716) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.1k (exactly $3,116) |
| Top 25% | $23k (exactly $22,603) |
| Top 5% | $429k (exactly $429,464) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 42 |
| Released games | 105 |
| Announced | 59 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 60% on the market, supply 35% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Action
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Transportation
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Action, Transportation; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Driving, Exploration, Simulation
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, 3D, Realistic
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 63% positive over 21,257 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $720. 7 in 10 of the 22 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 59 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Action with a different second tag, 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
Pacific Drive 2024 · $19M 
Train Simulator Classic 2015 · $18M 
Need for Speed™ Hot Pursuit Remastered 2020 · $12M 
SAND: Raiders of Sophie 2026 · EA · $9.4M 
OMSI 2: Steam Edition 2013 · $7.7M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Pacific Drive | older | $29.99 | 21,547 83% | 646k | $19M (exactly $19,385,836) | Ironwood Studios |
| | Train Simulator Classic | older | $29.99 | 19,461 73% | 584k | $18M (exactly $17,509,062) | Dovetail Games |
| | Need for Speed™ Hot Pursuit Remastered | older | $29.99 | 13,583 81% | 407k | $12M (exactly $12,220,625) | Stellar Entertainment Limited |
| | SAND: Raiders of Sophie | · EA | $24.99 | 12,485 49% | 375k | $9.4M (exactly $9,360,004) | Hologryph, TowerHaus |
| | OMSI 2: Steam Edition | older | $29.99 | 8,586 84% | 258k | $7.7M (exactly $7,724,824) | MR-Software GbR |
 | SimRail - The Railway Simulator | $34.99 | 5,307 85% | 159k | $5.6M (exactly $5,570,758) | SimRail S.A. | |
 | Bus Simulator 18 | older | $14.99 | 8,779 79% | 263k | $3.9M (exactly $3,947,916) | stillalive studios |
 | Train Sim World® 4 | older | $29.99 | 3,322 79% | 100k | $3.0M (exactly $2,988,803) | Dovetail Games |
 | Train Sim World® 2020 | older | $12.99 | 5,912 77% | 177k | $2.3M (exactly $2,303,906) | Dovetail Games |
 | Outbreak Island | · EA | $14.99 | 955 78% | 29k | $429k (exactly $429,464) | Tiny Magicians |
 | Cabin Crew Life Simulator | · EA | $12.99 | 505 70% | 15k | $197k (exactly $196,798) | SOGA Std |
 | TROLEU | $9.99 | 607 92% | 18k | $182k (exactly $181,918) | andrground | |
 | Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing | $5.99 | 640 79% | 19k | $115k (exactly $115,008) | Stellar Stone | |
 | Truck Mechanic: Dangerous Paths | $19.99 | 150 60% | 4.5k | $90k (exactly $89,955) | Atomic Jelly | |
 | VR Sailing | $7.99 | 307 96% | 9.2k | $74k (exactly $73,588) | HFRK. | |
 | PROFITS 2167: Planetary Resource Optimization & Freight Infrastructure Technician Simulator | · EA | $6.99 | 209 98% | 6.3k | $44k (exactly $43,827) | Simple Software Solutions |
 | Neon Curves Racing | $12.99 | 92 94% | 2.8k | $36k (exactly $35,852) | Ghost Machine |
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.