Do I ship it?

GamesAutomationAutomation + Flight

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Automation Flight game?

Automation + Flight

Only 8 developers shipped an Automation Flight 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, Airport Baggage Simulator, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 20 more are announced, ×4.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $1.3k, ×2.1 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $350; 1 in 20 cleared $53k, ×86 the market median. Revenue is down 70% on the market; 20 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.1 times the market baseline, revenue down 70% on the market, 20 announced, ×4.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Automation + Flight
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 8

not enough cohorts to draw

Outcomes for Automation + Flight: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 8
Bottom 30% $341 (exactly $341)
Median $1.3k (exactly $1,349)
Top 25% $53k (exactly $52,767)
Top 5% $54k (exactly $53,970)
Developers, 2 yr 8
Released games 27
Announced 20
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 70% on the market, supply 65% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 22%, 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
Flight
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, Flight
Price point
$9.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

Fewer than 10 games in the last 2 years; sentiment and price figures use the all window.

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 89% positive over 76,794 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $350, median $1.3k, 1 in 4 over $52k, 1 in 20 over $53k.

3 in 10 developers made under $350. 8 in 10 of the 5 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 20 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.0 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
Stormworks: Build and Rescue older $24.99 54,649 90% 1.6M $41M (exactly $40,970,355) Geometa
Airport CEO older $24.99 7,752 83% 233k $5.8M (exactly $5,811,674) Apog Labs
SimplePlanes older $12.99 9,811 93% 294k $3.8M (exactly $3,823,347) Jundroo, LLC
Juno: New Origins older $19.99 3,085 89% 93k $1.9M (exactly $1,850,074) Jundroo, LLC
Technicity older $17.99 200 75% 6.0k $108k (exactly $107,940) Osaris Games
Airport Baggage Simulator $17.99 100 92% 3.0k $54k (exactly $53,970) Three River Games (3RG)
I Fetch Rocks $15.99 110 94% 3.3k $53k (exactly $52,767) SarumXR
Bird · EA older $0.99 872 80% 26k $26k (exactly $25,898) Meng Games
PixPhys · EA older $3.99 193 73% 5.8k $23k (exactly $23,102) Red Starship
air star older $4.99 22 86% 660 $3.3k (exactly $3,293) DogmaQuest, Brendan Roarty
Lil' Airport · EA $2.99 28 89% 840 $2.5k (exactly $2,512) Pidibidi Games
Aetheria · EA $14.99 3 100% 90 $1.3k (exactly $1,349) Nick Mead
Fantasy Air-Sea Battles Showdown $4.99 3 100% 90 $449 (exactly $449) WANG WENJIE
To Save A Planet · EA $5.68 2 100% 60 $341 (exactly $341) dev.sperate
FLAAK TD $9.99 1 0% 30 $300 (exactly $300) Oedipe Games, Oedipe Games
Nick's Saturday Morning Games (NSMG) · EA $0.99 8 100% 240 $238 (exactly $238) Croaking Kero

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