Games › Automation › Automation + Collectathon
Should I ship a Collectathon Automation game?
Automation + Collectathon
Of 87 developers who shipped a Collectathon 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.. 87 more are announced.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.3k, ×3.7 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $480; 1 in 20 cleared $140k, ×225 the market median. Revenue is down 55% on the market; 87 games are announced against 56 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $479 (exactly $479) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.3k (exactly $2,307) |
| Top 25% | $16k (exactly $15,634) |
| Top 5% | $141k (exactly $140,988) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 87 |
| Released games | 130 |
| Announced | 87 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $4.99 |
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 55% on the market, supply 75% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 12%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Collectathon
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Automation, Collectathon; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Management, Idler
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Relaxing, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 7,275 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $480. 7 in 10 of the 37 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 87 games are announced against 56 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Automation with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Job SimulatorStrong odds
- + Female ProtagonistStrong odds
- + Open World Survival CraftFair
- + HorrorFair
- + HistoricalFair
- + UndergroundFair
- + Class-BasedFair
- + MiningFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + ProgrammingFair
- + FishingFair
- + Turn-Based TacticsFair
Comparable games
SimplePlanes 2015 · $3.8M 
Star Birds 2025 · EA · $1.8M 
Outpath 2023 · $1.3M 
Astronomics 2025 · EA · $423k 
Plantera 2016 · $405k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | SimplePlanes | older | $12.99 | 9,811 93% | 294k | $3.8M (exactly $3,823,347) | Jundroo, LLC |
| | Star Birds | · EA | $19.99 | 2,990 92% | 90k | $1.8M (exactly $1,793,103) | Toukana Interactive |
| | Outpath | older | $14.99 | 2,898 92% | 87k | $1.3M (exactly $1,303,231) | David Moralejo Sánchez |
| | Astronomics | · EA | $19.99 | 706 89% | 21k | $423k (exactly $423,388) | Numizmatic |
| | Plantera | older | $2.99 | 4,518 88% | 136k | $405k (exactly $405,265) | VaragtP |
 | Farming & Supermarket Simulator | $11.99 | 835 79% | 25k | $300k (exactly $300,350) | EY08 Games | |
 | Tabletop Game Shop Simulator | $12.99 | 480 84% | 14k | $187k (exactly $187,056) | Ludogram, Knight Fever Games | |
 | Plantera 2: Golden Acorn | older | $4.99 | 1,191 93% | 36k | $178k (exactly $178,293) | VaragtP |
 | Gacha Capsule Shop Simulator - Akihabara | · EA | $12.40 | 379 82% | 11k | $141k (exactly $140,988) | UGC90 |
 | Diggin | $6.99 | 635 80% | 19k | $133k (exactly $133,160) | Longshot Studio | |
 | Arcane Merchant | $14.99 | 280 84% | 8.4k | $126k (exactly $125,916) | Findie Studios | |
 | Cultivation Magic World | · EA | $12.99 | 276 78% | 8.3k | $108k (exactly $107,557) | DMG Studio |
 | Desk Paws | $5.99 | 463 86% | 14k | $83k (exactly $83,201) | GinkgoGames | |
 | LORED | · EA | $9.99 | 231 80% | 6.9k | $69k (exactly $69,231) | Dillon Simpson |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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