Do I ship it?

Games › Building › Building + Aliens

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Alien Building game?

Building + Aliens

Of 54 developers who shipped an Alien Building 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.. 109 more are announced, ×3.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.5k, ×2.4 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $1.2M, ×2034 the market median. Revenue is down 60% on the market; 109 games are announced against 29 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.4 times the market baseline, revenue down 60% on the market, 109 announced, ×3.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Building + Aliens
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 54
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $3.8k → $24k → $1.8k → $9.8k → $479 → $2.7k (still earning) → $240 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Building + Aliens: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 54
Bottom 30% $299 (exactly $299)
Median $1.5k (exactly $1,498)
Top 25% $14k (exactly $14,086)
Top 5% $1.3M (exactly $1,277,361)
Developers, 2 yr 54
Released games 160
Announced 109
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $8.99

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 60% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 13%, 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.

Building
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Aliens
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Building; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Base Building, Strategy, Sandbox
Price point
$8.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.

The top 10 games average 93% positive over 50,713 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $300, median $1.5k, 1 in 4 over $14k, 1 in 20 over $1.2M.

3 in 10 developers made under $300. 8 in 10 of the 28 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 109 games are announced against 29 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.8 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Building with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Job SimulatorStrong odds66 devs · median $28k · 70 announced
  2. + CatsFair52 devs · median $4.5k · 59 announced
  3. + TabletopFair56 devs · median $1.9k · 58 announced
  4. + Grid-Based MovementFair50 devs · median $719 · 57 announced
  5. + Interactive FictionFair17 devs · median $449 · 20 announced
  6. + Vehicular CombatPoor odds14 devs · median $303k · 40 announced
  7. + JRPGPoor odds10 devs · median $89k · 20 announced
  8. + Dating SimPoor odds28 devs · median $85k · 61 announced
  9. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds112 devs · median $71k · 251 announced
  10. + Real-TimePoor odds14 devs · median $62k · 20 announced
  11. + CrimePoor odds13 devs · median $55k · 52 announced
  12. + SailingPoor odds13 devs · median $52k · 40 announced

All 210 pairs on the Building page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

The Planet Crafter 2024 · $50M Abiotic Factor 2025 · $44M The Universim 2024 · $7.6M Starcom: Unknown Space 2024 · $3.3M Tower Dominion 2025 · $2.7M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
The Planet Crafter older $23.99 68,855 96% 2.1M $50M (exactly $49,554,944) Miju Games
Abiotic Factor $34.99 42,075 95% 1.3M $44M (exactly $44,166,128) Deep Field Games
The Universim older $29.99 8,465 79% 254k $7.6M (exactly $7,615,960) Crytivo
Starcom: Unknown Space older $24.99 4,464 92% 134k $3.3M (exactly $3,346,661) Wx3 Labs, LLC
Tower Dominion $17.49 5,117 85% 154k $2.7M (exactly $2,684,890) Parallel 45 Games
Infinifactory older $24.99 1,790 95% 54k $1.3M (exactly $1,341,963) Zachtronics
Drill Core $19.99 2,130 84% 64k $1.3M (exactly $1,277,361) Hungry Couch Games
Command & Conquer™ 3: Kane’s Wrath older $6.96 5,499 93% 165k $1.1M (exactly $1,148,191) EA Los Angeles
Interstellar Rift older $19.99 1,411 66% 42k $846k (exactly $846,177) Split Polygon
DG2: Defense Grid 2 older $9.99 2,704 86% 81k $810k (exactly $810,389) Hidden Path Entertainment
Exogate Initiative $24.99 691 75% 21k $518k (exactly $518,043) Xeno Bits
Mineral Defense $14.99 220 90% 6.6k $99k (exactly $98,934) Corestone Games
Space for Sale $19.99 140 50% 4.2k $84k (exactly $83,958) Mirage Game Studios
Artificial Extinction 2 $19.99 113 77% 3.4k $68k (exactly $67,766) 100Hr Games Inc
Alien Market Simulator $12.99 124 83% 3.7k $48k (exactly $48,323) Silly Sloth Studios, Kheddo Entertainme… (Silly Sloth Studios, Kheddo Entertainment)
Amberspire $24.99 58 86% 1.7k $43k (exactly $43,483) Lunar Division
SpaceSlog · EA $24.99 45 66% 1.4k $34k (exactly $33,736) Produno Games Studios

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