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Should I ship an Animal Simulation game?
Simulation + Animals
Of 95 developers who shipped an Animal Simulation 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.. 233 more are announced, ×2.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.8k, ×2.9 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $370k, ×603 the market median. Revenue is down 65% on the market; 233 games are announced against 81 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $179 (exactly $179) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.8k (exactly $1,799) |
| Top 25% | $13k (exactly $13,187) |
| Top 5% | $379k (exactly $378,521) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 95 |
| Released games | 173 |
| Announced | 233 |
| 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 down 65% on the market, supply 480% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 8%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Simulation
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Animals
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Simulation; 3 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Exploration, Sandbox, Life Sim
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Cute, Relaxing, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 89% positive over 24,296 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $180. 6 in 10 of the 15 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 233 games are announced against 81 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Simulation with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Escape RoomStrong odds
- + World War IFair
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + PinballFair
- + Female ProtagonistFair
- + BirdsFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + MusicFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + ProgrammingFair
Comparable games
Planet Zoo 2019 · $110M 
Ranch Simulator: Build, Hunt, Farm 2023 · $31M 
WolfQuest: Anniversary Edition 2025 · $10M 
Prehistoric Kingdom 2022 · EA · $5.1M 
Bear and Breakfast 2022 · $2.7M | 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 |
| | WolfQuest: Anniversary Edition | $29.99 | 11,511 97% | 345k | $10M (exactly $10,356,447) | eduweb | |
| | 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 |
 | Everything is Crab: The Animal Evolution Roguelite | $9.99 | 6,876 76% | 206k | $2.1M (exactly $2,060,737) | Odd Dreams Digital | |
 | Chillquarium | older | $5.99 | 7,780 92% | 233k | $1.4M (exactly $1,398,066) | Ben Reber |
 | Meadow - A Shelter Game | older | $6.99 | 5,060 90% | 152k | $1.1M (exactly $1,061,082) | Might and Delight |
 | Cattails | Become a Cat! | older | $14.99 | 2,315 95% | 69k | $1.0M (exactly $1,041,056) | Falcon Development |
 | Scriptorium: Master of Manuscripts | $14.99 | 1,041 97% | 31k | $468k (exactly $468,138) | Yaza Games | |
 | The Ranchers | · EA | $24.99 | 547 57% | 16k | $410k (exactly $410,086) | The Ranchers |
 | A Webbing Journey | · EA | $9.99 | 1,263 98% | 38k | $379k (exactly $378,521) | Fire Totem Games |
 | Farm to Table | · EA | $14.99 | 645 91% | 19k | $290k (exactly $290,056) | indieGiant |
 | Sort Them Ducks | $5.99 | 1,461 92% | 44k | $263k (exactly $262,542) | Mr.Duck | |
 | Exotica 2: Pet Shop Simulator | $14.99 | 529 75% | 16k | $238k (exactly $237,891) | Konrul Game | |
 | Virtual Hunter | $24.99 | 173 71% | 5.2k | $130k (exactly $129,698) | Korpi Games Oy | |
 | Abra-Cooking-Dabra | $12.99 | 250 75% | 7.5k | $97k (exactly $97,425) | Door 407 |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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