Do I ship it?

Games › Open World Survival Craft › Open World Survival Craft + Automation

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Automation Open World Survival Craft?

Open World Survival Craft + Automation

Of 28 developers who shipped an Automation Open World Survival Craft 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.. 37 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 9 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $310k, ×228 the market's $1.3k for a 9 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $50k. Revenue is up 240% on the market; 37 games are announced against 22 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 227.9 times the market baseline, revenue up 240% on the market, 37 announced, ×1.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Open World Survival Craft + Automation
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 28
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $338k → $1.8M → $307k → $59k → $1.1M (still earning) → $286k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Open World Survival Craft + Automation: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 28
Bottom 30% $50k (exactly $49,917)
Median $307k (exactly $307,046)
Top 25% $1.7M (exactly $1,746,326)
Top 5% $17M (exactly $16,594,966)
Developers, 2 yr 28
Released games 64
Announced 37
Effort 9 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $14.99

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 240% on the market, supply 215% 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 low: the lowest rating among its tags.

Open World Survival Craft
effort 9 / 10 · low · dedicated multiplayer servers over a huge content build
Automation
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
9 / 10 · studio only
Systems
Open World Survival Craft, Automation; all of the top 25% also carry Base Building, Crafting, Exploration
Price point
$14.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $14.99.

The top 10 games average 93% positive over 484,158 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $50k, median $310k, 1 in 4 over $1.7M, 1 in 20 over $16M.

3 in 10 developers made under $50k. 4 in 10 of the 10 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 37 games are announced against 22 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Open World Survival Craft with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Co-opPoor odds58 devs · median $515k · 127 announced
  2. + Online Co-OpPoor odds72 devs · median $217k · 139 announced
  3. + Immersive SimPoor odds14 devs · median $183k · 37 announced
  4. + PhysicsPoor odds8 devs · median $183k · 27 announced
  5. + Colony SimPoor odds11 devs · median $170k · 25 announced
  6. + MedievalPoor odds13 devs · median $154k · 37 announced
  7. + ShooterPoor odds25 devs · median $139k · 45 announced
  8. + PvPPoor odds22 devs · median $125k · 56 announced
  9. + Sci-fiPoor odds32 devs · median $124k · 76 announced
  10. + Character CustomizationPoor odds34 devs · median $116k · 60 announced
  11. + RPGPoor odds76 devs · median $96k · 165 announced
  12. + Post-apocalypticPoor odds46 devs · median $85k · 81 announced

All 54 pairs on the Open World Survival Craft page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Palworld 2026 · $371M Satisfactory 2024 · $282M ASTRONEER 2019 · $107M The Planet Crafter 2024 · $50M Stormworks: Build and Rescue 2020 · $41M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Palworld $29.99 411,947 94% 12M $371M (exactly $370,628,716) Pocketpair
Satisfactory older $39.99 234,993 97% 7.0M $282M (exactly $281,921,102) Coffee Stain Studios
ASTRONEER older $29.99 118,844 91% 3.6M $107M (exactly $106,923,947) System Era Softworks
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
Soulmask $29.99 18,445 76% 553k $17M (exactly $16,594,966) CampFire Studio
Craftopia · EA older $24.99 17,705 76% 531k $13M (exactly $13,273,438) Pocketpair
Necesse $14.99 24,425 93% 733k $11M (exactly $10,983,922) Fair Games ApS
ASKA · EA older $24.99 10,457 79% 314k $7.8M (exactly $7,839,613) Sand Sailor Studio
StarRupture · EA $19.99 12,333 80% 370k $7.4M (exactly $7,396,100) Creepy Jar
Solarpunk™ $22.99 3,492 81% 105k $2.4M (exactly $2,408,432) Cyberwave
Sandustry · EA $14.99 4,805 97% 144k $2.2M (exactly $2,160,808) Lantto Games
Astrometica · EA $19.99 2,912 82% 87k $1.7M (exactly $1,746,326) BeryMery
Eden Crafters $19.99 2,507 85% 75k $1.5M (exactly $1,503,448) Osaris Games
AETHUS $19.99 2,030 94% 61k $1.2M (exactly $1,217,391) Pawsmonaut Games
ALL WILL FALL $29.99 1,262 76% 38k $1.1M (exactly $1,135,421) All Parts Connected

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