Games › Automation › Automation + Dark Fantasy
Should I ship a Dark-Fantasy Automation game?
Automation + Dark Fantasy
Of 30 developers who shipped a Dark-Fantasy 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.. 63 more are announced, ×2.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $6.5k, ×10 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.5k; 1 in 20 cleared $340k, ×554 the market median. Revenue is down 70% on the market; 63 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.4k (exactly $1,435) |
|---|---|
| Median | $6.5k (exactly $6,475) |
| Top 25% | $33k (exactly $32,922) |
| Top 5% | $348k (exactly $347,652) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 30 |
| Released games | 43 |
| Announced | 63 |
| 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 70% on the market, supply 300% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, 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
- Dark Fantasy
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Automation; 9 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Idler, Incremental, RPG
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 84% positive over 12,556 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.5k. 7 in 10 of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 63 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 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
ASKA 2024 · EA · $7.8M 
The King is Watching 2025 · $4.0M 
Path of Idle: Old Gods Rising 2026 · $348k 
Orc Incremental 2026 · $106k 
Alice's Gaze 2026 · $92k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | ASKA | · EA older | $24.99 | 10,457 79% | 314k | $7.8M (exactly $7,839,613) | Sand Sailor Studio |
| | The King is Watching | $14.99 | 9,006 88% | 270k | $4.0M (exactly $4,049,998) | Hypnohead | |
| | Path of Idle: Old Gods Rising | $9.99 | 1,160 77% | 35k | $348k (exactly $347,652) | Small Mill, Small Mill | |
| | Orc Incremental | $7.99 | 444 75% | 13k | $106k (exactly $106,427) | Nice Ride | |
| | Alice's Gaze | $3.99 | 770 91% | 23k | $92k (exactly $92,169) | Starmoon Cat | |
 | Miseria | $7.99 | 350 58% | 11k | $84k (exactly $83,895) | Somnambulist Games | |
 | Vespera | $7.99 | 317 67% | 9.5k | $76k (exactly $75,985) | Idle Gamers | |
 | Legends of Wasteland | $6.99 | 320 62% | 9.6k | $67k (exactly $67,104) | 清友工作室 | |
 | Genesis of a Small God | $17.99 | 61 80% | 1.8k | $33k (exactly $32,922) | Pierre Nury | |
 | Arcana Academy | $14.99 | 67 71% | 2.0k | $30k (exactly $30,130) | 2A Studio | |
 | Vambrace: Dungeon Monarch | $14.99 | 61 70% | 1.8k | $27k (exactly $27,432) | Dvora Studio Co. Ltd. |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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