Do I ship it?

GamesLife SimLife Sim + Artificial Intelligence

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an AI Life Sim?

Life Sim + Artificial Intelligence

Of 92 developers who shipped an AI Life Sim 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.. 121 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $7.3k, ×15 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $1.1k. Revenue is up 40% on the market; 121 games are announced against 68 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 15.3 times the market baseline, revenue up 40% on the market, 121 announced, ×1.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Life Sim + Artificial Intelligence
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 92
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $12k → $4.3k → $10k → $16k → $6.2k → $6.5k → $9.0k (still earning) → $4.8k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Life Sim + Artificial Intelligence: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 92
Bottom 30% $1.0k (exactly $1,048)
Median $7.3k (exactly $7,282)
Top 25% $77k (exactly $77,161)
Top 5% $452k (exactly $451,948)
Developers, 2 yr 92
Released games 206
Announced 121
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $8.99

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 40% on the market, supply 170% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 14%, 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.

Life Sim
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
Artificial Intelligence
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Life Sim; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Immersive Sim, Management
Price point
$8.99 typical · top 25% priced $18.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person, Realistic
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $18.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.

The top 10 games average 52% positive over 34,339 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $1.1k, median $7.3k, 1 in 4 over $77k, 1 in 20 over $450k.

3 in 10 developers made under $1.1k. 7 in 10 of the 34 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 121 games are announced against 68 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Life Sim with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + FMVStrong odds38 devs · median $54k · 21 announced
  2. + MinigamesStrong odds20 devs · median $11k · 19 announced
  3. + MusicStrong odds28 devs · median $9.2k · 20 announced
  4. + Job SimulatorFair144 devs · median $19k · 153 announced
  5. + Football (Soccer)Fair10 devs · median $10k · 16 announced
  6. + FaithFair11 devs · median $9.4k · 13 announced
  7. + GamblingFair28 devs · median $4.0k · 32 announced
  8. + DemonsFair16 devs · median $2.4k · 22 announced
  9. + Point & ClickFair162 devs · median $2.4k · 219 announced
  10. + LogicFair70 devs · median $1.5k · 74 announced
  11. + ZombiesFair29 devs · median $1.5k · 34 announced
  12. + Walking SimulatorFair126 devs · median $1.3k · 144 announced

All 173 pairs on the Life Sim page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
WorldBox - God Simulator · EA older $19.99 51,071 95% 1.5M $31M (exactly $30,627,279) Maxim Karpenko
Wobbledogs older $19.99 13,770 98% 413k $8.3M (exactly $8,257,869) Animal Uprising
BidKing $2.99 22,238 33% 667k $2.0M (exactly $1,994,749) MindSurge Network & Games
FEMBOY FUTA HOUSE $14.99 4,131 89% 124k $1.9M (exactly $1,857,711) IT'S A TRAP
The Sapling · EA older $17.99 1,922 89% 58k $1.0M (exactly $1,037,303) Wessel Stoop
S4U: CITYPUNK 2011 AND LOVE PUNCH $13.99 2,324 90% 70k $975k (exactly $975,383) U0U Games
Shawarma Legend older $2.99 7,210 92% 216k $647k (exactly $646,737) Eyad Alshafei
AV Director Life! $29.99 661 85% 20k $595k (exactly $594,702) TeamKRAMA
恋爱吗?我家猫会后空翻 $9.99 1,508 96% 45k $452k (exactly $451,948) 光循花火工作室
Anonymous Hacker Simulator older $19.99 741 85% 22k $444k (exactly $444,378) Sicarius
Sunset Motel $18.99 728 77% 22k $415k (exactly $414,742) Efkey Studios
My sexy Neighbour 2 $14.99 849 67% 25k $382k (exactly $381,795) Pocket Rocket Studio 🚀
Ecosystem $19.99 601 76% 18k $360k (exactly $360,420) Tom Johnson
Fairground Online $29.99 387 77% 12k $348k (exactly $348,184) CoasterGalaxyWorld
Planetary Life · EA $11.99 912 94% 27k $328k (exactly $328,046) Sotenbox

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