Do I ship it?

Games › Procedural Generation › Procedural Generation + Aliens

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Alien Procedural Generation game?

Procedural Generation + Aliens

Of 81 developers who shipped an Alien Procedural Generation 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.. 154 more are announced, ×3.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $630, ×1.3 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $210; 1 in 20 cleared $170k, ×374 the market median. Revenue is down 10% on the market; 154 games are announced against 45 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.3 times the market baseline, revenue down 10% on the market, 154 announced, ×3.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Procedural Generation + Aliens
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 81
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.9k → $3.4k → $629 → $2.9k → $150 → $598 → $1.4k (still earning) → $299 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Procedural Generation + Aliens: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 81
Bottom 30% $210 (exactly $210)
Median $628 (exactly $628)
Top 25% $7.0k (exactly $6,951)
Top 5% $178k (exactly $177,722)
Developers, 2 yr 81
Released games 200
Announced 154
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $6.99

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 10% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 10%, 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.

Procedural Generation
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 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
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Procedural Generation; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelite, Action, Strategy
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 84% positive over 70,140 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $210, median $630, 1 in 4 over $6.9k, 1 in 20 over $170k.

3 in 10 developers made under $210. 9 in 10 of the 43 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 154 games are announced against 45 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.4 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + SnowFair11 devs · median $3.0k · 16 announced
  2. + Traditional RoguelikeFair71 devs · median $2.0k · 93 announced
  3. + DetectiveFair29 devs · median $1.5k · 30 announced
  4. + Word GameFair22 devs · median $1.3k · 23 announced
  5. + TypingFair26 devs · median $1.1k · 11 announced
  6. + IdlerFair98 devs · median $807 · 107 announced
  7. + LogicFair137 devs · median $478 · 149 announced
  8. + Walking SimulatorFair57 devs · median $449 · 62 announced
  9. + Precision PlatformerFair49 devs · median $449 · 42 announced
  10. + Hidden ObjectFair58 devs · median $418 · 56 announced
  11. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds31 devs · median $77k · 95 announced
  12. + TrainsPoor odds22 devs · median $30k · 35 announced

All 222 pairs on the Procedural Generation page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Lethal Company 2023 · EA · $123M Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor 2025 · $18M The Universim 2024 · $7.6M Galactic Civilizations III 2015 · $7.5M Phoenix Point 2020 · $4.0M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Lethal Company · EA older $9.99 411,550 97% 12M $123M (exactly $123,341,535) Zeekerss
Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor $12.99 46,354 86% 1.4M $18M (exactly $18,064,154) Funday Games
The Universim older $29.99 8,465 79% 254k $7.6M (exactly $7,615,960) Crytivo
Galactic Civilizations III older $29.99 8,337 77% 250k $7.5M (exactly $7,500,799) Stardock Entertainment
Phoenix Point older $24.99 5,375 73% 161k $4.0M (exactly $4,029,637) Snapshot Games Inc.
Nuclear Nightmare · EA $6.99 15,403 81% 462k $3.2M (exactly $3,230,009) BG Productions
Tower Dominion $17.49 5,117 85% 154k $2.7M (exactly $2,684,890) Parallel 45 Games
Wall World older $6.99 11,353 90% 341k $2.4M (exactly $2,380,724) Alawar
Red Solstice 2: Survivors older $14.99 2,585 70% 78k $1.2M (exactly $1,162,474) Ironward
The Sapling · EA older $17.99 1,922 89% 58k $1.0M (exactly $1,037,303) Wessel Stoop
Wall World 2 $11.99 1,749 73% 52k $629k (exactly $629,115) Alawar
UNDERWARD $9.99 593 73% 18k $178k (exactly $177,722) INTENSE
Xenopurge $12.49 419 84% 13k $157k (exactly $156,999) Traptics
Mineral Defense $14.99 220 90% 6.6k $99k (exactly $98,934) Corestone Games
Warspace 2 $17.99 83 59% 2.5k $45k (exactly $44,795) Magic Game Art
Void Marauders $13.99 106 77% 3.2k $44k (exactly $44,488) Autarca
Cowboy 3030 $14.99 96 87% 2.9k $43k (exactly $43,171) Soy Boy Games

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