Do I ship it?

GamesEconomyEconomy + Auto Battler

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Auto Battler Economy game?

Economy + Auto Battler

Of 59 developers who shipped an Auto Battler Economy 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.. 79 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $2.4k, ×3.8 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $720. Revenue is down 15% on the market; 79 games are announced against 42 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.8 times the market baseline, revenue down 15% on the market, 79 announced, ×1.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Economy + Auto Battler
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 59
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $959 → $1.5k → $4.5k → $2.2k → $2.5k (still earning) → $716 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Economy + Auto Battler: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 59
Bottom 30% $716 (exactly $716)
Median $2.4k (exactly $2,397)
Top 25% $15k (exactly $14,970)
Top 5% $255k (exactly $254,640)
Developers, 2 yr 59
Released games 87
Announced 79
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $5.99

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 15% on the market, supply 145% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 13%, 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.

Economy
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
Economy, Auto Battler; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Management, Simulation
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 73% positive over 19,678 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 $2.4k, 1 in 4 over $14k, 1 in 20 over $250k.

3 in 10 developers made under $720. 7 in 10 of the 18 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 79 games are announced against 42 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Job SimulatorFair116 devs · median $22k · 125 announced
  2. + Football (Soccer)Fair21 devs · median $6.8k · 29 announced
  3. + ScienceFair39 devs · median $5.9k · 39 announced
  4. + MiningFair116 devs · median $5.0k · 173 announced
  5. + LootFair74 devs · median $4.6k · 114 announced
  6. + CollectathonFair125 devs · median $3.8k · 151 announced
  7. + God GameFair47 devs · median $2.8k · 58 announced
  8. + IdlerFair441 devs · median $2.3k · 589 announced
  9. + IncrementalFair408 devs · median $2.2k · 612 announced
  10. + ArcadeFair199 devs · median $2.1k · 285 announced
  11. + Strategy RPGFair95 devs · median $2.0k · 128 announced
  12. + Grid-Based MovementFair20 devs · median $1.2k · 29 announced

All 161 pairs on the Economy page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
The Bazaar $19.99 14,931 70% 448k $9.0M (exactly $8,954,121) Tempo
Citadelum $24.99 1,005 83% 30k $753k (exactly $753,448) Abylight Barcelona
Loot Loop $4.99 1,701 93% 51k $255k (exactly $254,640) BitBrew
Berserk B.I.T.S $6.99 667 81% 20k $140k (exactly $139,870) BerserkBoy Games
Miseria $7.99 350 58% 11k $84k (exactly $83,895) Somnambulist 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
Folk Emerging $24.99 73 86% 2.2k $55k (exactly $54,728) Curious Dynamics
Private Military Manager: Tactical Auto Battler · EA $5.99 291 69% 8.7k $52k (exactly $52,293) 5minlab Corp.
SuperTaxCity $9.99 166 89% 5.0k $50k (exactly $49,750) soramame-koubou

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