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Should I ship an Alien Space Sim?
Space Sim + Aliens
Of 70 developers who shipped an Alien Space Sim 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.. 117 more are announced, ×2.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $480, ×0.8 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $120k, ×200 the market median. Revenue is up 105% on the market; 117 games are announced against 40 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $150 (exactly $150) |
|---|---|
| Median | $479 (exactly $479) |
| Top 25% | $4.2k (exactly $4,216) |
| Top 5% | $125k (exactly $125,431) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 70 |
| Released games | 227 |
| Announced | 117 |
| 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 105% on the market, supply 30% 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.
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Space Sim; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Exploration, Simulation, Sandbox
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $18.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $18.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 77% positive over 7,426 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 35 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 117 games are announced against 40 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Space Sim with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + DestructionFair
- + Female ProtagonistFair
- + Tactical RPGFair
- + WarFair
- + Walking SimulatorFair
- + SportsFair
- + DiplomacyLong shot
- + MilitaryPoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
- + Strategy RPGPoor odds
- + SandboxPoor odds
- + Colony SimPoor odds
Comparable games
Star Trek: Voyager - Across the Unknown 2026 · $4.4M 
Starcom: Unknown Space 2024 · $3.3M 
Starminer 2026 · EA · $1.6M 
Shortest Trip to Earth 2019 · $980k 
Interstellar Rift 2020 · $846k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Star Trek: Voyager - Across the Unknown | $34.99 | 4,162 79% | 125k | $4.4M (exactly $4,368,851) | Gamexcite | |
| | Starcom: Unknown Space | older | $24.99 | 4,464 92% | 134k | $3.3M (exactly $3,346,661) | Wx3 Labs, LLC |
| | Starminer | · EA | $29.99 | 1,818 72% | 55k | $1.6M (exactly $1,635,655) | CoolAndGoodGames |
| | Shortest Trip to Earth | older | $25.99 | 1,257 76% | 38k | $980k (exactly $980,083) | Interactive Fate |
| | Interstellar Rift | older | $19.99 | 1,411 66% | 42k | $846k (exactly $846,177) | Split Polygon |
 | Rodina | · EA older | $14.99 | 1,226 92% | 37k | $551k (exactly $551,332) | Elliptic Games |
 | The Fermi Paradox | · EA older | $18.99 | 956 76% | 29k | $545k (exactly $544,633) | Anomaly Games |
 | Lightracer Spark | older | $12.99 | 970 83% | 29k | $378k (exactly $378,009) | Smartmelon Games |
 | Sins of a Solar Empire: Trinity® | older | $9.99 | 687 78% | 21k | $206k (exactly $205,894) | Ironclad Games Corporation, Stardock En… (Ironclad Games Corporation, Stardock Entertainment) |
 | Planet Lust | $14.99 | 335 76% | 10k | $151k (exactly $150,650) | Skullgear | |
 | Void Miner – Incremental Asteroids Roguelite | $5.99 | 698 83% | 21k | $125k (exactly $125,431) | RyanJakob | |
 | Space for Sale | $19.99 | 140 50% | 4.2k | $84k (exactly $83,958) | Mirage Game Studios | |
 | Warspace 2 | $17.99 | 83 59% | 2.5k | $45k (exactly $44,795) | Magic Game Art | |
 | SpaceSlog | · EA | $24.99 | 45 66% | 1.4k | $34k (exactly $33,736) | Produno Games Studios |
 | Alliance Peacefighter | $18.99 | 56 83% | 1.7k | $32k (exactly $31,903) | Urban Logic Games | |
 | Rebots | $14.99 | 41 70% | 1.2k | $18k (exactly $18,438) | FlatPonies | |
 | Final Frontier Story | $8.99 | 48 72% | 1.4k | $13k (exactly $12,946) | Kairosoft Co.,Ltd |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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