Games › Sandbox › Sandbox + Artificial Intelligence
Should I ship an AI Sandbox?
Sandbox + Artificial Intelligence
Of 78 developers who shipped an AI Sandbox 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.. 178 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $9.0k, ×14 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $2.1k; 1 in 20 cleared $2.7M, ×4350 the market median. Revenue is up 35% on the market; 178 games are announced against 59 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $2.0k (exactly $2,017) |
|---|---|
| Median | $9.0k (exactly $8,991) |
| Top 25% | $82k (exactly $81,559) |
| Top 5% | $2.7M (exactly $2,732,065) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 78 |
| Released games | 234 |
| Announced | 178 |
| Effort | 6 / 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 35% on the market, supply 210% 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.
- Sandbox
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Artificial Intelligence
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Sandbox; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Management, Resource Management
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Relaxing, 3D, Realistic
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 66% positive over 334,168 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $2.1k. 7 in 10 of the 24 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 178 games are announced against 59 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Sandbox with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FightingStrong odds
- + Turn-BasedFair
- + World War IIFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + ProgrammingFair
- + CatsFair
- + SportsFair
- + GamblingFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + Combat RacingFair
- + Trading Card GameFair
- + IdlerFair
Comparable games
Battlefield™ 6 2025 · $620M 
WorldBox - God Simulator 2021 · EA · $31M 
Anno 117: Pax Romana 2025 · $22M 
Jurassic World Evolution 3 2025 · $20M 
VTOL VR 2017 · $18M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Battlefield™ 6 | $69.99 | 295,442 63% | 8.9M | $620M (exactly $620,339,567) | Battlefield Studios | |
| | WorldBox - God Simulator | · EA older | $19.99 | 51,071 95% | 1.5M | $31M (exactly $30,627,279) | Maxim Karpenko |
| | 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 | |
| | VTOL VR | older | $29.99 | 19,885 98% | 597k | $18M (exactly $17,890,534) | Boundless Dynamics, LLC |
 | From the Depths | older | $24.99 | 11,059 89% | 332k | $8.3M (exactly $8,290,932) | Brilliant Skies Ltd. |
 | Wobbledogs | older | $19.99 | 13,770 98% | 413k | $8.3M (exactly $8,257,869) | Animal Uprising |
 | RUNNING WITH RIFLES | older | $14.99 | 14,676 87% | 440k | $6.6M (exactly $6,599,797) | Osumia Games |
 | Nuclear Option | · EA older | $19.99 | 10,275 95% | 308k | $6.2M (exactly $6,161,917) | Shockfront Studios |
 | Hello Neighbor 2 | older | $39.99 | 4,361 81% | 131k | $5.2M (exactly $5,231,892) | Eerie Guest, tinyBuild |
 | The Farmer Was Replaced | $9.99 | 9,116 95% | 273k | $2.7M (exactly $2,732,065) | Timon Herzog | |
 | Global Rescue | · EA | $24.99 | 1,864 86% | 56k | $1.4M (exactly $1,397,441) | PeDePe GbR |
 | City Transport Simulator 2026 - Bus & Tram | $39.99 | 526 73% | 16k | $631k (exactly $631,042) | ViewApp | |
 | Celestial Empire | · EA | $19.99 | 709 89% | 21k | $425k (exactly $425,187) | President Studio |
 | Ecosystem | $19.99 | 601 76% | 18k | $360k (exactly $360,420) | Tom Johnson | |
 | Planetary Life | · EA | $11.99 | 912 94% | 27k | $328k (exactly $328,046) | Sotenbox |
 | Sort Them Ducks | $5.99 | 1,461 92% | 44k | $263k (exactly $262,542) | Mr.Duck |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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