Games › Automation › Automation + Futuristic
Should I ship a Futuristic Automation game?
Automation + Futuristic
Of 70 developers who shipped a Futuristic 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.. 142 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.5k, ×2.4 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $540; 1 in 20 cleared $450k, ×732 the market median. Revenue is up 75% on the market; 142 games are announced against 48 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $538 (exactly $538) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.5k (exactly $1,497) |
| Top 25% | $16k (exactly $16,484) |
| Top 5% | $460k (exactly $459,748) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 70 |
| Released games | 139 |
| Announced | 142 |
| 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 75% on the market, supply 120% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 17%, 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
- Futuristic
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Automation; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Strategy, Base Building
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 93% positive over 18,011 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $540. 7 in 10 of the 30 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 142 games are announced against 48 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 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
shapez 2 - Factory 2026 · $12M 
Taur 2020 · $1.5M 
Modulus: Factory Automation 2026 · $613k 
Microtopia 2025 · $528k 
Grand Emprise: Time Travel Survival 2023 · $484k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | shapez 2 - Factory | $29.99 | 13,846 96% | 415k | $12M (exactly $12,457,246) | tobspr Games | |
| | Taur | older | $24.99 | 2,011 79% | 60k | $1.5M (exactly $1,507,647) | Echo Entertainment |
| | Modulus: Factory Automation | $24.99 | 817 90% | 25k | $613k (exactly $612,505) | Happy Volcano | |
| | Microtopia | $19.99 | 881 87% | 26k | $528k (exactly $528,336) | Cordyceps Collective | |
| | Grand Emprise: Time Travel Survival | older | $19.99 | 807 69% | 24k | $484k (exactly $483,958) | Tbjbu2 |
 | Outworld Station | $18.99 | 807 84% | 24k | $460k (exactly $459,748) | Trickjump Games Ltd | |
 | The Signal State | older | $19.99 | 649 86% | 19k | $389k (exactly $389,205) | Reckoner Industries |
 | Mech Mechanic Simulator | older | $19.99 | 538 61% | 16k | $323k (exactly $322,639) | Polyslash |
 | JUNKPUNK | · EA older | $15.99 | 641 60% | 19k | $307k (exactly $307,488) | SCT |
 | GolfTopia | older | $19.99 | 477 95% | 14k | $286k (exactly $286,057) | MinMax Games Ltd. |
 | Industrial Annihilation | · EA | $29.99 | 206 27% | 6.2k | $185k (exactly $185,338) | Galactic Annihilation |
 | Widget Inc. | $4.99 | 761 84% | 23k | $114k (exactly $113,922) | Leaping Turtle | |
 | U.V.S. Nirmana | $14.99 | 213 88% | 6.4k | $96k (exactly $95,786) | Coincidence | |
 | Kentum | $17.99 | 172 75% | 5.2k | $93k (exactly $92,828) | Tlön Industries | |
 | MegaFactory Titan | $19.99 | 150 76% | 4.5k | $90k (exactly $89,955) | Q Switched Productions, LLC | |
 | Chipmatic | $11.99 | 158 65% | 4.7k | $57k (exactly $56,833) | Molter |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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