Do I ship it?

Games › Automation › Automation + Inventory Management

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Inventory Management Automation game?

Automation + Inventory Management

Of 108 developers who shipped an Inventory Management 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.. 185 more are announced, ×2.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $3.0k, ×4.8 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $370k, ×601 the market median. Revenue is down 80% on the market; 185 games are announced against 76 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 4.8 times the market baseline, revenue down 80% on the market, 185 announced, ×2.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Automation + Inventory Management
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 108
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $22k → $163k → $2.5k → $26k → $16k → $11k (still earning) → $179 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Automation + Inventory Management: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 108
Bottom 30% $599 (exactly $599)
Median $3.0k (exactly $2,997)
Top 25% $73k (exactly $72,851)
Top 5% $377k (exactly $377,211)
Developers, 2 yr 108
Released games 190
Announced 185
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 80% on the market, supply 130% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 19%, 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
Inventory Management
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high 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, Inventory Management; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Resource Management, Simulation, Management
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, 3D, Relaxing
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 83% positive over 13,684 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $600, median $3.0k, 1 in 4 over $72k, 1 in 20 over $370k.

3 in 10 developers made under $600. 6 in 10 of the 42 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 185 games are announced against 76 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 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

Melvor Idle 2021 · $4.4M Astrometica 2024 · EA · $1.7M Parcel Simulator 2025 · $1.5M Hammerting 2021 · $1.3M Beer Factory 2024 · $803k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Melvor Idle older $9.99 14,630 90% 439k $4.4M (exactly $4,384,611) Games by Malcs
Astrometica · EA $19.99 2,912 82% 87k $1.7M (exactly $1,746,326) BeryMery
Parcel Simulator $17.99 2,804 93% 84k $1.5M (exactly $1,513,319) Dansan Digital
Hammerting older $24.99 1,733 57% 52k $1.3M (exactly $1,299,230) Warpzone Studios
Beer Factory older $18.99 1,410 40% 42k $803k (exactly $803,277) MyceliumGames
Microcivilization $17.99 1,437 78% 43k $776k (exactly $775,549) Ondrej Homola
ShapeHero Factory $23.99 991 88% 30k $713k (exactly $713,223) Asobism.Co.,Ltd
Gunsmith · EA older $19.99 1,004 71% 30k $602k (exactly $602,099) SCT
Outworld Station $18.99 807 84% 24k $460k (exactly $459,748) Trickjump Games Ltd
Potion Tycoon $19.99 629 71% 19k $377k (exactly $377,211) Snowhound Games
Loot of Baal $8.99 1,372 62% 41k $370k (exactly $370,028) Gleamer Studio
Farming & Supermarket Simulator $11.99 835 79% 25k $300k (exactly $300,350) EY08 Games
Legends of Dragaea: Idle Dungeons $9.99 976 86% 29k $293k (exactly $292,507) Blast Programming
Returns Outlet Simulator · EA $9.99 921 95% 28k $276k (exactly $276,024) Twisted Twice Games

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