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Should I ship an Auto Battler City Builder?
City Builder + Auto Battler
Of 36 developers who shipped an Auto Battler City Builder 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.. 46 more are announced.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $4.8k, ×7.7 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $4.0M, ×6449 the market median. Revenue is down 90% on the market; 46 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $594 (exactly $594) |
|---|---|
| Median | $4.8k (exactly $4,844) |
| Top 25% | $45k (exactly $44,520) |
| Top 5% | $4.0M (exactly $4,049,998) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 36 |
| Released games | 61 |
| Announced | 46 |
| Effort | 6 / 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 90% on the market, supply 100% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 7%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- City Builder
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Auto Battler
- 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
- City Builder, Auto Battler; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Base Building, Strategy, Building
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 93% positive over 36,067 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $600. 5 in 10 of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 46 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
City Builder with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Visual NovelStrong odds
- + LogicFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + Hidden ObjectFair
- + ArcadeFair
- + RacingLong shot
- + RomePoor odds
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
- + HorrorPoor odds
- + Alternate HistoryPoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
- + DiplomacyPoor odds
Comparable games
Thronefall 2024 · $8.9M 
The King is Watching 2025 · $4.0M 
Gladiator Guild Manager 2024 · $1.7M 
Citadelum 2024 · $753k 
Buggos 2 2025 · $415k | 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 | |
| | The King is Watching | $14.99 | 9,006 88% | 270k | $4.0M (exactly $4,049,998) | Hypnohead | |
| | 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 | |
| | 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 |
 | There Are No Orcs | $8.99 | 1,188 93% | 36k | $320k (exactly $320,404) | BaseTrade Studio | |
 | Dice Kingdoms | older | $14.99 | 580 83% | 17k | $261k (exactly $260,826) | Fivemid Studio |
 | Berserk B.I.T.S | $6.99 | 667 81% | 20k | $140k (exactly $139,870) | BerserkBoy Games | |
 | Unholy Heights | older | $3.99 | 1,129 90% | 34k | $135k (exactly $135,141) | Petit Depotto |
 | SuperTaxCity | $9.99 | 166 89% | 5.0k | $50k (exactly $49,750) | soramame-koubou | |
 | SkyShard: City Battler | · EA | $14.99 | 106 97% | 3.2k | $48k (exactly $47,668) | ItsBen321 |
 | Exark | $14.99 | 99 73% | 3.0k | $45k (exactly $44,520) | Robot Cat Limited | |
 | Red Rocket Defencism | $7.99 | 172 98% | 5.2k | $41k (exactly $41,228) | tiny cactus studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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