Do I ship it?

Games › Automation › Automation + Action Roguelike

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Action Roguelike Automation game?

Automation + Action Roguelike

Only 19 developers shipped an Action Roguelike Automation game in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Pax Autocratica, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 43 more are announced, ×3.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $4.0k, ×6.3 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $2.8M, ×4587 the market median. Revenue is up 120% on the market; 43 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 6.3 times the market baseline, revenue up 120% on the market, 43 announced, ×3.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Automation + Action Roguelike
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 19
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $28k → $809 → $1.2k → $179 → $6.6k (still earning) → $150 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Automation + Action Roguelike: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 19
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $4.0k (exactly $3,953)
Top 25% $22k (exactly $21,824)
Top 5% $2.9M (exactly $2,880,839)
Developers, 2 yr 19
Released games 46
Announced 43
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $5.99

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 120% on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 11%, 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
Action Roguelike
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 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, Action Roguelike; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelite, Action, Action RPG
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 87% positive over 4,370 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 $4.0k, 1 in 4 over $21k, 1 in 20 over $2.8M.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. 8 in 10 of the 11 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 43 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.9 per shipper.

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

Pax Autocratica 2026 · EA · $2.9M Jianghu Survivor 2023 · $226k Bioweaver 2024 · $140k Keep Keepers 2024 · $73k Trackline Express 2024 · $56k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Pax Autocratica · EA $29.99 3,202 91% 96k $2.9M (exactly $2,880,839) Multiverse
Jianghu Survivor older $6.99 1,076 86% 32k $226k (exactly $225,637) Surprising Studio
Bioweaver $6.99 668 77% 20k $140k (exactly $140,080) Emprom Game, Wild Kid Games
Keep Keepers $17.99 135 87% 4.1k $73k (exactly $72,860) Thunderrock Innovations
Trackline Express older $14.99 124 84% 3.7k $56k (exactly $55,763) Bubblebird Studio
Rogue Factory $9.99 163 71% 4.9k $49k (exactly $48,851) curried_functor, ecaroh
Role of Hex older $9.99 93 69% 2.8k $28k (exactly $27,872) Verde
Shattered Realm Rebirth · EA $13.99 52 88% 1.6k $22k (exactly $21,824) kingnagame
Dwarf Delve $12.99 33 33% 990 $13k (exactly $12,860) Gloom Box
Bioprototype $4.99 50 86% 1.5k $7.5k (exactly $7,485) Emprom Game
Dungeon Market Simulator $9.99 22 40% 660 $6.6k (exactly $6,593) DarkRook Interactive
Vehicle No. 4 $6.99 23 86% 690 $4.8k (exactly $4,823) indiejoh
Grave Deceiver $5.99 22 81% 660 $4.0k (exactly $3,953) CoveiroDev

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