Do I ship it?

GamesAutomationAutomation + Historical

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Historical Automation game?

Automation + Historical

Of 26 developers who shipped a Historical 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.. 24 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $7.9k, ×13 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $990. Revenue is up 990% on the market; 24 games are announced against 19 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 12.6 times the market baseline, revenue up 990% on the market, 24 announced, ×1.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Automation + Historical
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 26
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $9.9k → $19k → $7.9k (still earning) → $1.3k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Automation + Historical: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 26
Bottom 30% $987 (exactly $987)
Median $7.9k (exactly $7,913)
Top 25% $19k (exactly $18,873)
Top 5% $489k (exactly $488,802)
Developers, 2 yr 26
Released games 35
Announced 24
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $11.99

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 990% on the market, supply 170% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 11%, 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
Historical
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 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; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Building, Crafting
Price point
$11.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Realistic, 2D, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $11.99.

The top 10 games average 77% positive over 2,938 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 $7.9k, 1 in 4 over $18k, 1 in 20 over $480k.

3 in 10 developers made under $990. All of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 24 games are announced against 19 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. + UndergroundFair20 devs · median $7.4k · 32 announced
  6. + Class-BasedFair19 devs · median $6.6k · 22 announced
  7. + MiningFair105 devs · median $4.9k · 164 announced
  8. + Auto BattlerFair112 devs · median $4.5k · 153 announced
  9. + ProgrammingFair84 devs · median $3.8k · 102 announced
  10. + FishingFair40 devs · median $3.4k · 46 announced
  11. + Turn-Based TacticsFair28 devs · median $2.9k · 36 announced
  12. + DeckbuildingFair44 devs · median $2.8k · 51 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
Car Manufacture · EA older $19.99 1,395 66% 42k $837k (exactly $836,581) STEREO GAMES S.A.
Microcivilization $17.99 1,437 78% 43k $776k (exactly $775,549) Ondrej Homola
Alaska Gold Fever $16.99 959 79% 29k $489k (exactly $488,802) Baked Games
Train World older $34.99 85 75% 2.6k $89k (exactly $89,224) Turn Point Games
Wild West Supermarket Simulator $12.99 168 63% 5.0k $65k (exactly $65,470) SunDust
Black Gold: Oil Drilling Simulator $14.99 112 59% 3.4k $50k (exactly $50,366) CreativeForge Games
The Home County · EA $13.99 57 91% 1.7k $24k (exactly $23,923) Swanworth
Meco Rocket Simulator · EA $49.69 15 80% 450 $22k (exactly $22,360) Loren Aerospace
出将入相 $6.99 90 72% 2.7k $19k (exactly $18,873) 克里斯工作室
Lugal: Bronze Age Survival Game · EA $14.99 35 71% 1.1k $16k (exactly $15,740) Tea & Cake Games
逐鹿汉末:三国 · EA $14.99 31 61% 930 $14k (exactly $13,941) CXC STUDIO
Breadbox $11.99 34 97% 1.0k $12k (exactly $12,230) Bitfall

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