Do I ship it?

Games › Base Building › Base Building + Auto Battler

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Auto Battler Base Building game?

Base Building + Auto Battler

Of 74 developers who shipped an Auto Battler Base Building 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.. 133 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $5.3k, ×8.4 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $750k, ×1200 the market median. Revenue is down 60% on the market; 133 games are announced against 50 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 8.4 times the market baseline, revenue down 60% on the market, 133 announced, ×2.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Base Building + Auto Battler
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 74
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $959 → $1.8k → $26k → $14k → $21k → $26k → $5.3k (still earning) → $1.7k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Base Building + Auto Battler: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 74
Bottom 30% $599 (exactly $599)
Median $5.3k (exactly $5,273)
Top 25% $39k (exactly $38,661)
Top 5% $753k (exactly $753,448)
Developers, 2 yr 74
Released games 134
Announced 133
Effort 5 / 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 down 60% on the market, supply 100% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 9%, 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.

Base Building
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Auto Battler
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Base Building, Auto Battler; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Building, Roguelite
Price point
$8.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.49 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $17.49 or above; the middle game at $8.99.

The top 10 games average 92% positive over 42,321 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $600, median $5.3k, 1 in 4 over $38k, 1 in 20 over $750k.

3 in 10 developers made under $600. 6 in 10 of the 28 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 133 games are announced against 50 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Base Building with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + ProgrammingFair13 devs · median $53k · 21 announced
  2. + DwarvesFair12 devs · median $13k · 19 announced
  3. + Bullet HellFair61 devs · median $540 · 67 announced
  4. + DiplomacyPoor odds19 devs · median $520k · 47 announced
  5. + SailingPoor odds9 devs · median $356k · 38 announced
  6. + Dating SimPoor odds19 devs · median $128k · 21 announced
  7. + TrainsPoor odds19 devs · median $113k · 47 announced
  8. + Real-Time with PausePoor odds20 devs · median $73k · 35 announced
  9. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds130 devs · median $72k · 262 announced
  10. + UndergroundPoor odds12 devs · median $65k · 71 announced
  11. + MarsPoor odds15 devs · median $58k · 28 announced
  12. + HistoricalPoor odds81 devs · median $58k · 175 announced

All 175 pairs on the Base Building page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Legion TD 2 - Multiplayer Tower Defense 2021 · $9.5M Thronefall 2024 · $8.9M The King is Watching 2025 · $4.0M Tower Dominion 2025 · $2.7M Warpips 2022 · $2.2M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Legion TD 2 - Multiplayer Tower Defense older $24.99 12,607 86% 378k $9.5M (exactly $9,451,468) AutoAttack Games
Thronefall $12.99 22,966 96% 689k $8.9M (exactly $8,949,850) GrizzlyGames, Mythwright
The King is Watching $14.99 9,006 88% 270k $4.0M (exactly $4,049,998) Hypnohead
Tower Dominion $17.49 5,117 85% 154k $2.7M (exactly $2,684,890) Parallel 45 Games
Warpips older $16.99 4,339 87% 130k $2.2M (exactly $2,211,588) Skirmish Mode Games
Gladiator Guild Manager older $14.99 3,808 80% 114k $1.7M (exactly $1,712,458) Entertainment Forge
Line War older $24.99 1,076 80% 32k $807k (exactly $806,677) Studio Centurion
Citadelum $24.99 1,005 83% 30k $753k (exactly $753,448) Abylight Barcelona
ShapeHero Factory $23.99 991 88% 30k $713k (exactly $713,223) Asobism.Co.,Ltd
Garbage older $14.99 1,003 66% 30k $451k (exactly $451,049) Homebased
Buggos 2 $19.99 692 83% 21k $415k (exactly $414,992) Intrepid Marmot
There Are No Orcs $8.99 1,188 93% 36k $320k (exactly $320,404) BaseTrade Studio
Annihilate The Spance · EA $29.99 347 90% 10k $312k (exactly $312,196) Skyglow Softworks
Legionbound $9.99 671 83% 20k $201k (exactly $201,099) Spicy Garlic Games
Hold The Mine · EA $14.99 338 83% 10k $152k (exactly $151,999) Hookaria Games

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