Do I ship it?

Games › Automation › Automation + Capitalism

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Capitalist Automation game?

Automation + Capitalism

Of 142 developers who shipped a Capitalist Automation 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.. 263 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $3.8k, ×6.0 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $720; 1 in 20 cleared $280k, ×459 the market median. Revenue is down 80% on the market; 263 games are announced against 105 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 6.0 times the market baseline, revenue down 80% on the market, 263 announced, ×2.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Automation + Capitalism
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 142
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $36k → $26k → $129k → $30k → $41k → $2.7k → $5.6k (still earning) → $959 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Automation + Capitalism: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 142
Bottom 30% $718 (exactly $718)
Median $3.8k (exactly $3,774)
Top 25% $44k (exactly $43,827)
Top 5% $288k (exactly $288,012)
Developers, 2 yr 142
Released games 234
Announced 263
Effort 6 / 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 80% on the market, supply 175% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 15%, 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.

Automation
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Capitalism
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Automation; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Management, Economy
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Relaxing, 3D, First-Person
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 82% positive over 14,563 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 $3.8k, 1 in 4 over $43k, 1 in 20 over $280k.

3 in 10 developers made under $720. 6 in 10 of the 47 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 263 games are announced against 105 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Automation with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Job SimulatorStrong odds36 devs · median $57k · 31 announced
  2. + Female ProtagonistStrong odds27 devs · median $4.5k · 32 announced
  3. + Open World Survival CraftFair28 devs · median $307k · 37 announced
  4. + HorrorFair19 devs · median $8.0k · 29 announced
  5. + HistoricalFair26 devs · median $7.9k · 24 announced
  6. + UndergroundFair20 devs · median $7.4k · 32 announced
  7. + Class-BasedFair19 devs · median $6.6k · 22 announced
  8. + MiningFair105 devs · median $4.9k · 164 announced
  9. + Auto BattlerFair112 devs · median $4.5k · 153 announced
  10. + ProgrammingFair84 devs · median $3.8k · 102 announced
  11. + FishingFair40 devs · median $3.4k · 46 announced
  12. + Turn-Based TacticsFair28 devs · median $2.9k · 36 announced

All 135 pairs on the Automation page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Airport CEO 2021 · $5.8M Software Inc. 2015 · EA · $5.2M Rise of Industry 2019 · $2.8M Recycling Center Simulator 2024 · $1.6M InfraSpace 2023 · $1.2M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Airport CEO older $24.99 7,752 83% 233k $5.8M (exactly $5,811,674) Apog Labs
Software Inc. · EA older $22.99 7,576 94% 227k $5.2M (exactly $5,225,167) Coredumping
Rise of Industry older $29.99 3,122 74% 94k $2.8M (exactly $2,808,863) Dapper Penguin Studios
Recycling Center Simulator $19.99 2,594 84% 78k $1.6M (exactly $1,555,622) Balas Games
InfraSpace older $24.99 1,638 82% 49k $1.2M (exactly $1,228,009) Dionic Software
Another Brick in The Mall older $16.99 2,340 83% 70k $1.2M (exactly $1,192,698) The Quadsphere
Sintopia $34.99 951 80% 29k $998k (exactly $998,265) Piraknights Games
Ore Factory Squad ⛏️ $12.99 1,646 87% 49k $641k (exactly $641,446) threeW
Gamblers Table $6.99 2,955 74% 89k $620k (exactly $619,664) greenpixels, Bossforge
Better Mart Simulator $14.99 1,238 89% 37k $557k (exactly $556,729) Exanticx Studio
Industry Giant 4.0 $24.99 506 33% 15k $379k (exactly $379,348) Don VS Dodo
Potion Tycoon $19.99 629 71% 19k $377k (exactly $377,211) Snowhound Games
Project P.I.T.T. $9.99 961 78% 29k $288k (exactly $288,012) Froke
Console Shop Simulator · EA $15.99 516 92% 15k $248k (exactly $247,525) Lance Games
Cornerpond $2.99 2,567 97% 77k $230k (exactly $230,260) foolsroom

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