Games › Economy › Economy + Artificial Intelligence
Should I ship an AI Economy game?
Economy + Artificial Intelligence
Of 55 developers who shipped an AI 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.. 92 more are announced, ×2.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $12k, ×19 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $2.7k; 1 in 20 cleared $5.5M, ×8794 the market median. Revenue is down 90% on the market; 92 games are announced against 42 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $2.6k (exactly $2,633) |
|---|---|
| Median | $12k (exactly $12,171) |
| Top 25% | $161k (exactly $161,442) |
| Top 5% | $5.5M (exactly $5,522,637) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 55 |
| Released games | 111 |
| Announced | 92 |
| 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 down 90% on the market, supply 200% 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.
- Economy
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Artificial Intelligence
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Economy; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Management, Resource Management
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Relaxing, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 86% positive over 52,625 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $2.7k. 5 in 10 of the 17 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 92 games are announced against 42 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Economy with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + Football (Soccer)Fair
- + ScienceFair
- + MiningFair
- + LootFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + God GameFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + IdlerFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + ArcadeFair
- + Strategy RPGFair
Comparable games
Anno 117: Pax Romana 2025 · $22M 
Jurassic World Evolution 3 2025 · $20M 
ReStory: Chill Electronics Repairs 2026 · $5.5M 
Democracy 4 2022 · $5.3M 
Prehistoric Kingdom 2022 · EA · $5.1M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Anno 117: Pax Romana | $59.99 | 12,150 69% | 365k | $22M (exactly $21,866,355) | Ubisoft Mainz | |
| | Jurassic World Evolution 3 | $59.99 | 11,387 93% | 342k | $20M (exactly $20,493,184) | Frontier Developments | |
| | ReStory: Chill Electronics Repairs | $19.99 | 9,209 95% | 276k | $5.5M (exactly $5,522,637) | Mandragora | |
| | Democracy 4 | older | $29.99 | 5,891 81% | 177k | $5.3M (exactly $5,300,133) | Positech Games |
| | Prehistoric Kingdom | · EA older | $29.99 | 5,640 90% | 169k | $5.1M (exactly $5,074,308) | Blue Meridian |
 | SpaceBourne 2 | $19.99 | 4,951 75% | 149k | $3.0M (exactly $2,969,115) | Burak Dabak | |
 | The Farmer Was Replaced | $9.99 | 9,116 95% | 273k | $2.7M (exactly $2,732,065) | Timon Herzog | |
 | Screeps: World | older | $19.99 | 1,934 86% | 58k | $1.2M (exactly $1,159,820) | Screeps, LLC |
 | Power & Revolution 2020 Edition | older | $49.99 | 769 63% | 23k | $1.2M (exactly $1,153,269) | Eversim |
 | SuperPower 3 | older | $29.99 | 982 10% | 29k | $884k (exactly $883,505) | GolemLabs |
 | Celestial Empire | · EA | $19.99 | 709 89% | 21k | $425k (exactly $425,187) | President Studio |
 | Sunset Motel | $18.99 | 728 77% | 22k | $415k (exactly $414,742) | Efkey Studios | |
 | Click and Conquer | $4.99 | 2,442 92% | 73k | $366k (exactly $365,567) | SOCKHOUSE STUDIOS | |
 | FACEMINER | $7.99 | 1,517 90% | 46k | $364k (exactly $363,625) | Wristwork | |
 | Settlements Rising | $18.99 | 416 80% | 12k | $237k (exactly $236,995) | The Catalyst Crew |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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