Do I ship it?

GamesAutomationAutomation + Destruction

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Destruction Automation game?

Automation + Destruction

Of 22 developers who shipped a Destruction 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.. 46 more are announced, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $6.0k, ×9.5 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $990; 1 in 20 cleared $780k, ×1257 the market median. Revenue is up 300% on the market; 46 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 9.5 times the market baseline, revenue up 300% on the market, 46 announced, ×3.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Automation + Destruction
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 22
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $600 → $2.7k → $4.6k → $7.4k (still earning) → $299 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Automation + Destruction: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 22
Bottom 30% $987 (exactly $987)
Median $6.0k (exactly $5,988)
Top 25% $100k (exactly $100,283)
Top 5% $789k (exactly $789,205)
Developers, 2 yr 22
Released games 41
Announced 46
Effort 6 / 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 300% on the market, supply 115% 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
Destruction
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 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, Destruction; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Building, Simulation, Sandbox
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $39.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $39.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 76% positive over 17,814 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $990, median $6.0k, 1 in 4 over $100k, 1 in 20 over $780k.

3 in 10 developers made under $990. 6 in 10 of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 46 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Automation with a different second tag, 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

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
RoadCraft $39.99 13,527 74% 406k $16M (exactly $16,228,342) Saber Interactive
Taur older $24.99 2,011 79% 60k $1.5M (exactly $1,507,647) Echo Entertainment
SimplePlanes 2 · EA $19.99 1,316 92% 39k $789k (exactly $789,205) Jundroo, LLC
Wreckreation $39.99 360 63% 11k $432k (exactly $431,892) Three Fields Entertainment
Regular Human Workshop older $9.99 1,201 89% 36k $360k (exactly $359,940) Dead Joker
Fracture Field $6.99 1,196 75% 36k $251k (exactly $250,801) Type Ten
Dawn Apart · EA $19.99 245 68% 7.4k $147k (exactly $146,926) Industrial Technology and Witchcraft
Junkyard Builder $14.99 223 70% 6.7k $100k (exactly $100,283) FreeMind S.A.
Sand:box older $1.99 1,659 93% 50k $99k (exactly $99,042) smellymoo
Dice People $2.99 719 90% 22k $64k (exactly $64,494) Mateusk2m, Manodeix
Around The Core $3.99 95 86% 2.9k $11k (exactly $11,372) draftentropy
Pick Ball $2.49 102 66% 3.1k $7.6k (exactly $7,619) Blueberry Studio
Rift Miner $7.99 31 93% 930 $7.4k (exactly $7,431) TIDERAFT

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