Do I ship it?

Games › Building › Building + Auto Battler

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Building Auto Battler?

Building + Auto Battler

Of 61 developers who shipped a Building Auto Battler 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.. 91 more are announced, ×2.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $5.7k, ×9.0 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $720; 1 in 20 cleared $710k, ×1136 the market median. Revenue is down 60% on the market; 91 games are announced against 39 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 9.0 times the market baseline, revenue down 60% on the market, 91 announced, ×2.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Building + Auto Battler
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 61
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $13k → $3.7k → $6.9k → $3.3k → $17k → $14k → $3.2k (still earning) → $2.9k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Building + Auto Battler: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 61
Bottom 30% $719 (exactly $719)
Median $5.7k (exactly $5,662)
Top 25% $31k (exactly $30,869)
Top 5% $713k (exactly $713,223)
Developers, 2 yr 61
Released games 113
Announced 91
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 60% on the market, supply 75% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 8%, 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.

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
Building, Auto Battler; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Base Building, Resource Management
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 93% positive over 32,135 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $720, median $5.7k, 1 in 4 over $30k, 1 in 20 over $710k.

3 in 10 developers made under $720. 6 in 10 of the 23 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 91 games are announced against 39 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.3 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Job SimulatorStrong odds66 devs · median $28k · 70 announced
  2. + CatsFair52 devs · median $4.5k · 59 announced
  3. + TabletopFair56 devs · median $1.9k · 58 announced
  4. + Grid-Based MovementFair50 devs · median $719 · 57 announced
  5. + Interactive FictionFair17 devs · median $449 · 20 announced
  6. + Vehicular CombatPoor odds14 devs · median $303k · 40 announced
  7. + JRPGPoor odds10 devs · median $89k · 20 announced
  8. + Dating SimPoor odds28 devs · median $85k · 61 announced
  9. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds112 devs · median $71k · 251 announced
  10. + Real-TimePoor odds14 devs · median $62k · 20 announced
  11. + CrimePoor odds13 devs · median $55k · 52 announced
  12. + SailingPoor odds13 devs · median $52k · 40 announced

All 210 pairs on the Building page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Thronefall 2024 · $8.9M Tower Dominion 2025 · $2.7M Gladiator Guild Manager 2024 · $1.7M Citadelum 2024 · $753k ShapeHero Factory 2025 · $713k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Thronefall $12.99 22,966 96% 689k $8.9M (exactly $8,949,850) GrizzlyGames, Mythwright
Tower Dominion $17.49 5,117 85% 154k $2.7M (exactly $2,684,890) Parallel 45 Games
Gladiator Guild Manager older $14.99 3,808 80% 114k $1.7M (exactly $1,712,458) Entertainment Forge
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
Fish Game older $24.99 589 93% 18k $442k (exactly $441,573) A Shell in the Pit Games, Creative Ink… (A Shell in the Pit Games, Creative Ink Games)
Buggos 2 $19.99 692 83% 21k $415k (exactly $414,992) Intrepid Marmot
Buggos older $9.99 1,204 88% 36k $361k (exactly $360,839) Intrepid Marmot
Annihilate The Spance · EA $29.99 347 90% 10k $312k (exactly $312,196) Skyglow Softworks
Dice Kingdoms older $14.99 580 83% 17k $261k (exactly $260,826) Fivemid Studio
Hold The Mine · EA $14.99 338 83% 10k $152k (exactly $151,999) Hookaria Games
Gargadusa's Tower $8.99 294 90% 8.8k $79k (exactly $79,292) The Math Team
Kingdom Ascension $11.99 200 82% 6.0k $72k (exactly $71,940) RainRingStudio
Elements and build $8.99 185 73% 5.6k $50k (exactly $49,894) ChuTouMiao Studio

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