Games › Simulation › Simulation + Auto Battler
Should I ship an Auto Battler Simulation game?
Simulation + Auto Battler
Of 219 developers who shipped an Auto Battler Simulation 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.. 293 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.5k, ×4.0 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $480. Revenue is up 80% on the market; 293 games are announced against 153 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $479 (exactly $479) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.5k (exactly $2,516) |
| Top 25% | $24k (exactly $23,988) |
| Top 5% | $459k (exactly $458,816) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 219 |
| Released games | 467 |
| Announced | 293 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 80% on the market, supply 120% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 16%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Simulation
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Auto Battler
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Simulation, Auto Battler; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Management, RPG
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $15.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $15.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 83% positive over 36,294 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $480. 7 in 10 of the 89 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 293 games are announced against 153 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Simulation with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Escape RoomStrong odds
- + World War IFair
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + PinballFair
- + Female ProtagonistFair
- + BirdsFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + MusicFair
- + ProgrammingFair
- + 4 Player LocalFair
Comparable games
Mechabellum 2024 · $8.0M 
Bad North: Jotunn Edition 2018 · $5.6M 
Luck be a Landlord 2023 · $3.1M 
Esports Godfather 2024 · $2.6M 
Dragon Cliff 2018 · $2.3M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Mechabellum | $14.99 | 17,856 84% | 536k | $8.0M (exactly $8,029,843) | Game River | |
| | Bad North: Jotunn Edition | older | $14.99 | 12,344 93% | 370k | $5.6M (exactly $5,551,097) | Plausible Concept, Oskar Stålberg |
| | Luck be a Landlord | older | $9.99 | 10,213 93% | 306k | $3.1M (exactly $3,060,836) | TrampolineTales |
| | Esports Godfather | older | $19.99 | 4,319 90% | 130k | $2.6M (exactly $2,590,104) | Asteroid Game Studio |
| | Dragon Cliff | older | $9.99 | 7,679 88% | 230k | $2.3M (exactly $2,301,396) | Meta Interaction |
 | Ages of Conflict: World War Simulator | · EA older | $6.99 | 8,904 96% | 267k | $1.9M (exactly $1,867,169) | JoySpark Games |
 | Yaoling: Mythical Journey | $19.99 | 2,854 90% | 86k | $1.7M (exactly $1,711,544) | RAYKA STUDIO | |
 | Teamfight Manager | older | $9.99 | 5,663 86% | 170k | $1.7M (exactly $1,697,201) | Team Samoyed |
 | The Great Villainess: Strategy of Lily | $29.99 | 1,529 85% | 46k | $1.4M (exactly $1,375,641) | Alliance Arts, One or Eight, WSS Playgr… (Alliance Arts, One or Eight, WSS Playground) | |
 | Teamfight Manager 2 | · EA | $19.99 | 2,251 60% | 68k | $1.3M (exactly $1,349,925) | Team Samoyed |
 | Commander Quest | $11.99 | 2,804 74% | 84k | $1.0M (exactly $1,008,599) | Flyway Games, Inc. | |
 | Ballionaire | $12.34 | 2,398 85% | 72k | $888k (exactly $887,740) | newobject | |
 | Cauldron | $14.99 | 1,678 92% | 50k | $755k (exactly $754,597) | SleepyDad Games | |
 | 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 | |
 | Horripilant | $7.99 | 2,928 92% | 88k | $702k (exactly $701,842) | Alexandre Declos , Pas Game Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.