Games › Immersive Sim › Immersive Sim + Automation
Should I ship an Automation Immersive Sim?
Immersive Sim + Automation
Of 144 developers who shipped an Automation Immersive Sim 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.. 208 more are announced, ×2.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $10k, ×6.6 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.5k; 1 in 20 cleared $1.0M, ×711 the market median. Revenue is up 65% on the market; 208 games are announced against 95 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.4k (exactly $1,438) |
|---|---|
| Median | $10k (exactly $9,960) |
| Top 25% | $73k (exactly $73,019) |
| Top 5% | $1.1M (exactly $1,065,324) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 144 |
| Released games | 257 |
| Announced | 208 |
| Effort | 8 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| 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 up 65% on the market, supply 85% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Immersive Sim
- effort 8 / 10 · low · effort 8 sits in the low band
- Automation
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 8 / 10 · online systems, open world
- Systems
- Immersive Sim, Automation; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Management, Resource Management
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, 3D, Relaxing
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 81% positive over 58,422 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.5k. 6 in 10 of the 61 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 208 games are announced against 95 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Immersive Sim with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Trading Card GameStrong odds
- + MinigamesStrong odds
- + WesternStrong odds
- + BoxingStrong odds
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + Asynchronous MultiplayerFair
- + Dating SimFair
- + RomanceFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + Visual NovelFair
- + Split ScreenFair
Comparable games
The Planet Crafter 2024 · $50M 
Stormworks: Build and Rescue 2020 · $41M 
RoadCraft 2025 · $16M 
Automation - The Car Company Tycoon Game 2015 · EA · $15M 
The Last Caretaker 2025 · EA · $14M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | The Planet Crafter | older | $23.99 | 68,855 96% | 2.1M | $50M (exactly $49,554,944) | Miju Games |
| | Stormworks: Build and Rescue | older | $24.99 | 54,649 90% | 1.6M | $41M (exactly $40,970,355) | Geometa |
| | RoadCraft | $39.99 | 13,527 74% | 406k | $16M (exactly $16,228,342) | Saber Interactive | |
| | Automation - The Car Company Tycoon Game | · EA older | $29.99 | 16,815 93% | 504k | $15M (exactly $15,128,456) | Camshaft Software Ltd |
| | The Last Caretaker | · EA | $34.99 | 13,178 86% | 395k | $14M (exactly $13,832,947) | Channel37 Ltd |
 | StarRupture | · EA | $19.99 | 12,333 80% | 370k | $7.4M (exactly $7,396,100) | Creepy Jar |
 | Airport CEO | older | $24.99 | 7,752 83% | 233k | $5.8M (exactly $5,811,674) | Apog Labs |
 | Cash Cleaner Simulator | $19.99 | 7,334 92% | 220k | $4.4M (exactly $4,398,200) | Mind Control Games | |
 | Techtonica | $29.99 | 3,076 64% | 92k | $2.8M (exactly $2,767,477) | Fire Hose Games | |
 | KartKraft™ | older | $24.99 | 2,987 73% | 90k | $2.2M (exactly $2,239,354) | Motorsport Games |
 | Recycling Center Simulator | $19.99 | 2,594 84% | 78k | $1.6M (exactly $1,555,622) | Balas Games | |
 | Parcel Simulator | $17.99 | 2,804 93% | 84k | $1.5M (exactly $1,513,319) | Dansan Digital | |
 | Docked | $29.99 | 1,210 72% | 36k | $1.1M (exactly $1,088,637) | Saber Interactive | |
 | Laysara: Summit Kingdom | $24.99 | 1,421 80% | 43k | $1.1M (exactly $1,065,324) | Quite OK Games | |
 | Orebound | · EA | $24.99 | 945 77% | 28k | $708k (exactly $708,466) | Emberforge |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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