Do I ship it?

GamesAutomationAutomation + Logic

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Logic Automation game?

Automation + Logic

Of 129 developers who shipped a Logic 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.. 181 more are announced, ×2.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $1.6k, ×2.5 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $420; 1 in 20 cleared $470k, ×753 the market median. Revenue is up 80% on the market; 181 games are announced against 82 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.5 times the market baseline, revenue up 80% on the market, 181 announced, ×2.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Automation + Logic
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 129
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.4k → $9.6k → $6.7k → $2.1k → $1.3k → $3.0k → $2.5k (still earning) → $809 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Automation + Logic: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 129
Bottom 30% $419 (exactly $419)
Median $1.6k (exactly $1,552)
Top 25% $18k (exactly $17,538)
Top 5% $473k (exactly $472,682)
Developers, 2 yr 129
Released games 309
Announced 181
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $8.99

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 80% on the market, supply 70% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 9%, 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
Logic
effort 2 / 10 · high · deductive rules and grids

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, Logic; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Building, Sandbox
Price point
$8.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.

The top 10 games average 93% positive over 32,099 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $420, median $1.6k, 1 in 4 over $17k, 1 in 20 over $470k.

3 in 10 developers made under $420. 8 in 10 of the 56 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 181 games are announced against 82 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.2 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
shapez 2 - Factory $29.99 13,846 96% 415k $12M (exactly $12,457,246) tobspr Games
Stationeers · EA older $34.99 8,597 88% 258k $9.0M (exactly $9,024,271) RocketWerkz
Airport CEO older $24.99 7,752 83% 233k $5.8M (exactly $5,811,674) Apog Labs
shapez older $9.99 14,252 96% 428k $4.3M (exactly $4,271,324) Tobias Springer
Opus Magnum older $19.99 5,964 97% 179k $3.6M (exactly $3,576,611) Zachtronics
Turing Complete · EA older $19.99 5,520 95% 166k $3.3M (exactly $3,310,344) LevelHead
The Farmer Was Replaced $9.99 9,116 95% 273k $2.7M (exactly $2,732,065) Timon Herzog
SHENZHEN I/O older $14.99 3,746 95% 112k $1.7M (exactly $1,684,576) Zachtronics
Oddsparks: An Automation Adventure $29.99 1,867 82% 56k $1.7M (exactly $1,679,740) Massive Miniteam
Human Resource Machine older $14.99 3,274 94% 98k $1.5M (exactly $1,472,318) Tomorrow Corporation
Alchemy Factory $17.99 2,529 87% 76k $1.4M (exactly $1,364,901) D5 Copperhead
Little Rocket Lab $19.99 1,286 90% 39k $771k (exactly $771,214) Teenage Astronauts
Modulus: Factory Automation $24.99 817 90% 25k $613k (exactly $612,505) Happy Volcano
Subway Builder $39.99 394 59% 12k $473k (exactly $472,682) Colin Miller, EJ Fox, Curran Kelleher,… (Colin Miller, EJ Fox, Curran Kelleher, Nate Maue, Alex Wohlbruck, Piero Maddaleni, Brooks Flannery)
Kaizen: A Factory Story $19.99 694 91% 21k $416k (exactly $416,192) Coincidence
Ultimate Theater Simulator $12.99 634 88% 19k $247k (exactly $247,070) RAKTWO Games, steelbox Games
Data Center $8.99 916 76% 27k $247k (exactly $247,045) Waseku

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