Do I ship it?

Games › Economy › Economy + Arcade

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Arcade Economy game?

Economy + Arcade

Of 199 developers who shipped an Arcade Economy 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.. 285 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $2.1k, ×3.3 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $360. Revenue is up 245% on the market; 285 games are announced against 152 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.3 times the market baseline, revenue up 245% on the market, 285 announced, ×1.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Economy + Arcade
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 199
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $3.3k → $1.3k → $17k → $10k → $748 → $7.3k → $3.4k (still earning) → $718 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Economy + Arcade: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 199
Bottom 30% $359 (exactly $359)
Median $2.1k (exactly $2,096)
Top 25% $22k (exactly $22,283)
Top 5% $366k (exactly $365,567)
Developers, 2 yr 199
Released games 295
Announced 285
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $4.99

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 245% on the market, supply 215% 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.

Economy
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Arcade
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
Economy, Arcade; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Management, Incremental
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Relaxing, 2D, Colorful
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 94% positive over 62,117 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $360, median $2.1k, 1 in 4 over $22k, 1 in 20 over $360k.

3 in 10 developers made under $360. 7 in 10 of the 60 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 285 games are announced against 152 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Economy with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Job SimulatorFair116 devs · median $22k · 125 announced
  2. + Football (Soccer)Fair21 devs · median $6.8k · 29 announced
  3. + ScienceFair39 devs · median $5.9k · 39 announced
  4. + MiningFair116 devs · median $5.0k · 173 announced
  5. + LootFair74 devs · median $4.6k · 114 announced
  6. + CollectathonFair125 devs · median $3.8k · 151 announced
  7. + God GameFair47 devs · median $2.8k · 58 announced
  8. + Auto BattlerFair59 devs · median $2.4k · 79 announced
  9. + IdlerFair441 devs · median $2.3k · 589 announced
  10. + IncrementalFair408 devs · median $2.2k · 612 announced
  11. + Strategy RPGFair95 devs · median $2.0k · 128 announced
  12. + Grid-Based MovementFair20 devs · median $1.2k · 29 announced

All 161 pairs on the Economy page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Internet Cafe Simulator 2 2022 · $7.4M Scritchy Scratchy 2026 · $3.2M Shelldiver 2025 · $2.5M Keep on Mining! 2025 · $1.2M Tower Wizard 2025 · $788k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Internet Cafe Simulator 2 older $19.99 12,299 74% 369k $7.4M (exactly $7,375,710) Cheesecake Dev
Scritchy Scratchy $6.99 15,245 94% 457k $3.2M (exactly $3,196,876) Lunch Money Games
Shelldiver $4.99 16,806 98% 504k $2.5M (exactly $2,515,858) Gagonfe
Keep on Mining! $4.99 8,300 93% 249k $1.2M (exactly $1,242,510) EagleEye Games
Tower Wizard $2.99 8,787 96% 264k $788k (exactly $788,194) Barribob
A Game About Feeding A Black Hole $6.99 3,467 88% 104k $727k (exactly $727,030) Aarimous, Thornity
Super Woden: Rally Edge $12.99 1,552 96% 47k $605k (exactly $604,814) ViJuDa
Scale the Depths $9.99 1,881 88% 56k $564k (exactly $563,736) Glass Gecko Games
Chef Knight $5.99 2,433 94% 73k $437k (exactly $437,210) Clover Bite
Rock Bottom $7.99 1,747 94% 52k $419k (exactly $418,756) Logan Games
Keep on Mining! - Worlds $6.99 1,899 80% 57k $398k (exactly $398,220) EagleEye Games

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