Games › Automation › Automation + Crime
Should I ship a Crime Automation game?
Automation + Crime
Only 16 developers shipped a Crime Automation game in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Schedule I, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 41 more are announced, ×3.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $33k, ×52 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $760; 1 in 20 cleared $170M, ×275918 the market median. Revenue is down 100% on the market; 41 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $756 (exactly $756) |
|---|---|
| Median | $33k (exactly $32,967) |
| Top 25% | $219k (exactly $219,334) |
| Top 5% | $173M (exactly $173,276,718) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 16 |
| Released games | 26 |
| Announced | 41 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $12.99 |
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 100% on the market, supply 200% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 15%, 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
- Crime
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
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 Management, Simulation, Action
- Price point
- $12.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- all of the top 25% ship with First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $12.99.
The top 10 games average 97% positive over 298,023 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $760. 41 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.4 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Automation with a different setting or mood, 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
Schedule I 2025 · EA · $173M 
Cash Cleaner Simulator 2025 · $4.4M 
Dirty Business 2026 · EA · $407k 
The Boss Gangster: Criminal Empire 2025 · EA · $219k 
Moonshine Inc. 2022 · $106k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Schedule I | · EA | $19.99 | 288,939 97% | 8.7M | $173M (exactly $173,276,718) | TVGS |
| | Cash Cleaner Simulator | $19.99 | 7,334 92% | 220k | $4.4M (exactly $4,398,200) | Mind Control Games | |
| | Dirty Business | · EA | $14.99 | 906 75% | 27k | $407k (exactly $407,428) | Plan Dirty Games |
| | The Boss Gangster: Criminal Empire | · EA | $18.99 | 385 81% | 12k | $219k (exactly $219,334) | BEF GAMES |
| | Moonshine Inc. | older | $19.99 | 177 61% | 5.3k | $106k (exactly $106,147) | Klabater |
 | Scam Center Simulator: UnderKingdom | · EA | $10.99 | 168 75% | 5.0k | $55k (exactly $55,390) | Jiao Games |
 | My Drug Cartel | · EA | $24.99 | 48 50% | 1.4k | $36k (exactly $35,986) | Gigicom |
 | Toll Booth Simulator | $12.99 | 91 71% | 2.7k | $35k (exactly $35,463) | SifDev | |
 | The Brewline | $9.99 | 110 84% | 3.3k | $33k (exactly $32,967) | Alcora Games | |
 | Cocaine Dealer | · EA older | $3.99 | 109 80% | 3.3k | $13k (exactly $13,047) | Stone/Spark Games |
 | Schedule Store Simulator | · EA | $14.99 | 28 92% | 840 | $13k (exactly $12,592) | Alkame Games |
 | Mafia Life Simulator | · EA | $8.99 | 14 64% | 420 | $3.8k (exactly $3,776) | CSN Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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