Do I ship it?

GamesAutomationAutomation + Farming

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Farming Automation game?

Automation + Farming

Of 31 developers who shipped a Farming 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.. 31 more are announced.

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 $2.4k; 1 in 20 cleared $2.4M, ×3835 the market median. Revenue is down 35% on the market; 31 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 10.4 times the market baseline, revenue down 35% on the market, 31 announced, ×1.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Automation + Farming
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 31
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $21k → $8.4k → $13k → $4.7k (still earning) → $5.9k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Automation + Farming: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 31
Bottom 30% $2.4k (exactly $2,398)
Median $6.5k (exactly $6,501)
Top 25% $38k (exactly $38,376)
Top 5% $2.4M (exactly $2,408,432)
Developers, 2 yr 31
Released games 40
Announced 31
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $9.99

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 35% on the market, supply 80% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 8%, 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
Farming
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 Building, Sandbox, Simulation
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $22.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Relaxing, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $22.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 90% positive over 17,533 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $2.4k, median $6.5k, 1 in 4 over $38k, 1 in 20 over $2.4M.

3 in 10 developers made under $2.4k. 8 in 10 of the 11 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 31 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year.

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

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Rusty's Retirement older $6.99 13,902 96% 417k $2.9M (exactly $2,915,249) Mister Morris Games
Rise of Industry older $29.99 3,122 74% 94k $2.8M (exactly $2,808,863) Dapper Penguin Studios
The Farmer Was Replaced $9.99 9,116 95% 273k $2.7M (exactly $2,732,065) Timon Herzog
Solarpunk™ $22.99 3,492 81% 105k $2.4M (exactly $2,408,432) Cyberwave
Go-Go Town! $27.99 2,476 93% 74k $2.1M (exactly $2,079,097) Prideful Sloth
Farming & Supermarket Simulator $11.99 835 79% 25k $300k (exactly $300,350) EY08 Games
Mini Settlers $12.99 592 85% 18k $231k (exactly $230,702) Knight Owl Games
Plantera 2: Golden Acorn older $4.99 1,191 93% 36k $178k (exactly $178,293) VaragtP
GeoDepths older $16.99 294 87% 8.8k $150k (exactly $149,852) A Little More Games
MR FARMBOY $9.99 480 85% 14k $144k (exactly $143,856) mrdboy
Rocky Idle $9.99 308 83% 9.2k $92k (exactly $92,308) Rocky Games Studio
Elsewhere · EA $15.99 80 96% 2.4k $38k (exactly $38,376) Four White Cats
Node Farm $11.99 75 81% 2.3k $27k (exactly $26,978) ByerN
Chronomon · EA $9.99 79 83% 2.4k $24k (exactly $23,676) Stone Golem Studios

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