Do I ship it?

Games › Management › Management + Aliens

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Alien Management game?

Management + Aliens

Of 53 developers who shipped an Alien Management 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.. 108 more are announced, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $1.7k, ×2.7 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $270; 1 in 20 cleared $1.2M, ×2034 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 108 games are announced against 35 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.7 times the market baseline, revenue flat on the market, 108 announced, ×3.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Management + Aliens
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 53
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $959 → $0 → $2.1k → $449 → $2.4k → $2.7k → $14k (still earning) → $718 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Management + Aliens: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 53
Bottom 30% $269 (exactly $269)
Median $1.7k (exactly $1,676)
Top 25% $34k (exactly $33,736)
Top 5% $1.3M (exactly $1,277,361)
Developers, 2 yr 53
Released games 133
Announced 108
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 flat on the market, supply 85% 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.

Management
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
Management; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Exploration, Simulation
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Art
4 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 $7.99.

The top 10 games average 77% positive over 11,966 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $270, median $1.7k, 1 in 4 over $33k, 1 in 20 over $1.2M.

3 in 10 developers made under $270. 8 in 10 of the 21 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 108 games are announced against 35 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + RomeFair21 devs · median $64k · 23 announced
  2. + Job SimulatorFair195 devs · median $17k · 225 announced
  3. + WesternFair18 devs · median $13k · 22 announced
  4. + Artificial IntelligenceFair114 devs · median $12k · 154 announced
  5. + JRPGFair37 devs · median $9.4k · 35 announced
  6. + MinigamesFair22 devs · median $7.4k · 15 announced
  7. + RhythmFair19 devs · median $5.9k · 24 announced
  8. + UnderwaterFair37 devs · median $5.0k · 54 announced
  9. + CollectathonFair182 devs · median $3.5k · 230 announced
  10. + DwarvesFair13 devs · median $3.2k · 18 announced
  11. + 3D FighterFair11 devs · median $3.1k · 15 announced
  12. + IncrementalFair611 devs · median $1.9k · 893 announced

All 214 pairs on the Management page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

The Universim 2024 · $7.6M Star Trek: Voyager - Across the Unknown 2026 · $4.4M Age of Wonders: Planetfall 2019 · $4.3M Xenonauts 2014 · $2.9M Wall World 2023 · $2.4M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
The Universim older $29.99 8,465 79% 254k $7.6M (exactly $7,615,960) Crytivo
Star Trek: Voyager - Across the Unknown $34.99 4,162 79% 125k $4.4M (exactly $4,368,851) Gamexcite
Age of Wonders: Planetfall older $29.99 4,758 80% 143k $4.3M (exactly $4,280,773) Triumph Studios
Xenonauts older $24.99 3,815 86% 114k $2.9M (exactly $2,860,106) Goldhawk Interactive
Wall World older $6.99 11,353 90% 341k $2.4M (exactly $2,380,724) Alawar
ENDLESS Space™ - Definitive Edition older $9.99 6,626 79% 199k $2.0M (exactly $1,985,812) AMPLITUDE Studios
Shadow Empire older $39.99 1,431 82% 43k $1.7M (exactly $1,716,771) VR Designs
Starminer · EA $29.99 1,818 72% 55k $1.6M (exactly $1,635,655) CoolAndGoodGames
Drill Core $19.99 2,130 84% 64k $1.3M (exactly $1,277,361) Hungry Couch Games
Insaniquarium Deluxe older $4.99 6,398 96% 192k $958k (exactly $957,781) PopCap Games, Inc.
Wall World 2 $11.99 1,749 73% 52k $629k (exactly $629,115) Alawar
Exogate Initiative $24.99 691 75% 21k $518k (exactly $518,043) Xeno Bits
Xenopurge $12.49 419 84% 13k $157k (exactly $156,999) Traptics
Dead in Antares $19.99 189 77% 5.7k $113k (exactly $113,343) Ishtar Games
Mineral Defense $14.99 220 90% 6.6k $99k (exactly $98,934) Corestone Games
Sex Shop Simulator: X-RAY DESIRE $6.99 448 68% 13k $94k (exactly $93,946) Doorway Games
Space for Sale $19.99 140 50% 4.2k $84k (exactly $83,958) Mirage Game Studios

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