Games › Political Sim › Political Sim + Artificial Intelligence
Should I ship an AI Political Sim?
Political Sim + Artificial Intelligence
Only 15 developers shipped an AI Political Sim in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Halo: Campaign Evolved, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 33 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $5.7k, ×12 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $18M, ×39504 the market median. Revenue is up 3270% on the market; 33 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $450 (exactly $450) |
|---|---|
| Median | $5.7k (exactly $5,694) |
| Top 25% | $39k (exactly $38,674) |
| Top 5% | $19M (exactly $18,764,246) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 15 |
| Released games | 41 |
| Announced | 33 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 3270% on the market, supply 175% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 15%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Political 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
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Political Sim; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Strategy, Choices Matter
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $49.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Story Rich
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $49.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 62% positive over 13,300 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $450. 8 in 10 of the 6 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 33 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Political Sim with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + DetectiveFair
- + Psychological HorrorFair
- + IdlerFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + Board GameFair
- + TabletopFair
- + CombatPoor odds
- + Sci-fiPoor odds
- + FuturisticPoor odds
- + 4XPoor odds
- + Cold WarPoor odds
- + BuildingPoor odds
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 |
| | Halo: Campaign Evolved | $49.99 | 12,512 61% | 375k | $19M (exactly $18,764,246) | Halo Studios | |
| | Democracy 4 | older | $29.99 | 5,891 81% | 177k | $5.3M (exactly $5,300,133) | Positech Games |
| | Ages of Conflict: World War Simulator | · EA older | $6.99 | 8,904 96% | 267k | $1.9M (exactly $1,867,169) | JoySpark Games |
| | Power & Revolution 2020 Edition | older | $49.99 | 769 63% | 23k | $1.2M (exactly $1,153,269) | Eversim |
| | Fantasy Map Simulator | · EA older | $7.99 | 4,190 89% | 126k | $1.0M (exactly $1,004,343) | The Stranger |
| | SuperPower 3 | older | $29.99 | 982 10% | 29k | $884k (exactly $883,505) | GolemLabs |
| | Deisim | older | $14.99 | 873 93% | 26k | $393k (exactly $392,588) | Myron Games |
| | Rogue AI Simulator | older | $11.99 | 364 82% | 11k | $131k (exactly $130,931) | Nerdook Productions |
| | Pandora's Toybox | $9.99 | 372 83% | 11k | $111k (exactly $111,488) | BetaLab | |
| | Mr. President | $19.99 | 162 75% | 4.9k | $97k (exactly $97,151) | Exia Labs | |
| | Lunar Ascendant | $14.99 | 86 44% | 2.6k | $39k (exactly $38,674) | Darts Games | |
| | Epoch Cycle | $8.99 | 79 68% | 2.4k | $21k (exactly $21,306) | GeometricUniverse | |
| | POTUS Election Sim | $9.99 | 47 53% | 1.4k | $14k (exactly $14,086) | Dackers Studios | |
| | Life of an NPC | · EA | $14.99 | 21 52% | 630 | $9.4k (exactly $9,444) | Max Loh |
| | Command by Voice: World Conquest | · EA | $9.99 | 19 52% | 570 | $5.7k (exactly $5,694) | Side Meicai |
| | Nexus Wars | · EA | $24.99 | 1 0% | 30 | $750 (exactly $750) | Ajion Arts |
| | Imperial Wager: The Shattered Crown of Augustus | $19.99 | 1 0% | 30 | $600 (exactly $600) | Ke Zhou |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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