Games › Transportation › Transportation + Arcade
Should I ship an Arcade Transportation game?
Transportation + Arcade
Of 37 developers who shipped an Arcade Transportation 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.. 32 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $840, ×1.3 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $240. Revenue is up 2820% on the market; 32 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $240 (exactly $240) |
|---|---|
| Median | $839 (exactly $839) |
| Top 25% | $14k (exactly $14,032) |
| Top 5% | $956k (exactly $955,922) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 37 |
| Released games | 88 |
| Announced | 32 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 2820% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 13%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Transportation
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Arcade
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Transportation, Arcade; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Action, Driving
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person, Relaxing
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 81% positive over 4,890 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $240. 9 in 10 of the 19 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 32 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Transportation with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Character CustomizationFair
- + PvPFair
- + 3D PlatformerFair
- + RacingFair
- + Action-AdventureFair
- + LogicFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Co-opPoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
- + Level EditorPoor odds
- + Life SimPoor odds
- + Immersive SimPoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Seafarer: The Ship Sim | · EA | $34.99 | 1,921 64% | 58k | $2.0M (exactly $2,016,474) | astragon Development |
| | RUNNING TRAIN | 走ル列車! | · EA | $19.99 | 1,594 97% | 48k | $956k (exactly $955,922) | Novatetsu Games |
| | TROLEU | $9.99 | 607 92% | 18k | $182k (exactly $181,918) | andrground | |
| | Crash Time 2 | older | $4.99 | 1,170 63% | 35k | $175k (exactly $175,149) | · |
| | Truck Mechanic: Dangerous Paths | $19.99 | 150 60% | 4.5k | $90k (exactly $89,955) | Atomic Jelly | |
| | Conduct DELUXE! | older | $9.99 | 210 83% | 6.3k | $63k (exactly $62,937) | Northplay |
| | Forklift Simulator | older | $19.99 | 103 55% | 3.1k | $62k (exactly $61,769) | Bandsoft |
| | PROFITS 2167: Planetary Resource Optimization & Freight Infrastructure Technician Simulator | · EA | $6.99 | 209 98% | 6.3k | $44k (exactly $43,827) | Simple Software Solutions |
| | Neon Curves Racing | $12.99 | 92 94% | 2.8k | $36k (exactly $35,852) | Ghost Machine | |
| | Crossing Guard Joe | older | $5.99 | 196 93% | 5.9k | $35k (exactly $35,221) | September Games |
| | Jeepney Simulator 2 | $8.99 | 119 91% | 3.6k | $32k (exactly $32,094) | Spacezero Interactive | |
| | Parcel Delivery Simulator | $6.99 | 114 61% | 3.4k | $24k (exactly $23,906) | Digital Melody | |
| | SKYSAVIOR Helicopter Services | · EA | $12.99 | 58 100% | 1.7k | $23k (exactly $22,603) | Raphael do Amaral de Albuquerque |
| | Uh Oh Airlines | · EA | $17.99 | 26 69% | 780 | $14k (exactly $14,032) | Bomas Game Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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