Do I ship it?

Games › Management › Management + Animals

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Animal Management game?

Management + Animals

Of 35 developers who shipped an Animal 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.. 113 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 $3.6k, ×5.7 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $97k, ×155 the market median. Revenue is up 20% on the market; 113 games are announced against 30 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 5.7 times the market baseline, revenue up 20% on the market, 113 announced, ×3.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Management + Animals
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 35
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $7.6k → $7.2k → $5.6k (still earning) → $179 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Management + Animals: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 35
Bottom 30% $449 (exactly $449)
Median $3.6k (exactly $3,591)
Top 25% $9.3k (exactly $9,281)
Top 5% $97k (exactly $97,425)
Developers, 2 yr 35
Released games 67
Announced 113
Effort 5 / 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 up 20% on the market, supply 500% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 9%, 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
Animals
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high 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 Simulation, Strategy, Building
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Cute, Relaxing, 2D
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 86% positive over 1,628 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $450, median $3.6k, 1 in 4 over $9.2k, 1 in 20 over $97k.

3 in 10 developers made under $450. All of the 5 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 113 games are announced against 30 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.8 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

Planet Zoo 2019 · $110M Ranch Simulator: Build, Hunt, Farm 2023 · $31M Prehistoric Kingdom 2022 · EA · $5.1M Bear and Breakfast 2022 · $2.7M Let's Build a Zoo 2021 · $2.2M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Planet Zoo older $44.99 81,191 90% 2.4M $110M (exactly $109,583,493) Frontier Developments
Ranch Simulator: Build, Hunt, Farm older $24.99 40,862 79% 1.2M $31M (exactly $30,634,241) Toxic Dog
Prehistoric Kingdom · EA older $29.99 5,640 90% 169k $5.1M (exactly $5,074,308) Blue Meridian
Bear and Breakfast older $19.99 4,574 89% 137k $2.7M (exactly $2,743,028) Gummy Cat
Let's Build a Zoo older $19.99 3,722 89% 112k $2.2M (exactly $2,232,083) Springloaded
Zoo Tycoon: Ultimate Animal Collection older $19.99 1,607 64% 48k $964k (exactly $963,718) Frontier Developments, Asobo Studio
Equilinox older $9.99 2,604 93% 78k $780k (exactly $780,419) ThinMatrix
Happy Sheepies older $19.99 561 85% 17k $336k (exactly $336,432) Berker Games
Farm to Table · EA $14.99 645 91% 19k $290k (exactly $290,056) indieGiant
Dog Sled Saga older $7.99 659 94% 20k $158k (exactly $157,962) Trichotomy
Abra-Cooking-Dabra $12.99 250 75% 7.5k $97k (exactly $97,425) Door 407
BioEden $21.99 93 70% 2.8k $61k (exactly $61,352) Broken Arms Games
Exark $14.99 99 73% 3.0k $45k (exactly $44,520) Robot Cat Limited
Little Aviary $3.99 231 86% 6.9k $28k (exactly $27,651) atomco
Bean Meets Paw $9.99 63 93% 1.9k $19k (exactly $18,881) XINGXIAN NET
Petunia's Purgatory $6.99 69 98% 2.1k $14k (exactly $14,469) Dead Possum Games
Cafe Cafe: Idle Bird Collector $4.99 65 92% 2.0k $9.7k (exactly $9,730) CHONKSOFT
Bathhouse Creatures $4.99 62 98% 1.9k $9.3k (exactly $9,281) Sleepy Rocket
Dino Market $4.99 51 94% 1.5k $7.6k (exactly $7,635) Fuz Games

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