Do I ship it?

Games › Automation › Automation + Party-Based RPG

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Automation Party-Based RPG?

Automation + Party-Based RPG

Only 14 developers shipped an Automation Party-Based RPG in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Loot of Baal, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 28 more are announced, ×2.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $21k, ×33 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.4k; 1 in 20 cleared $370k, ×589 the market median. Revenue is down 65% on the market; 28 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 33.1 times the market baseline, revenue down 65% on the market, 28 announced, ×2.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Automation + Party-Based RPG
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 14
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $24k → $3.4k (still earning) → $1.3k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Automation + Party-Based RPG: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 14
Bottom 30% $1.3k (exactly $1,347)
Median $21k (exactly $20,771)
Top 25% $84k (exactly $83,895)
Top 5% $370k (exactly $370,028)
Developers, 2 yr 14
Released games 25
Announced 28
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $7.99

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 65% on the market, supply 300% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 16%, 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
Party-Based RPG
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 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, Party-Based RPG; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Idler, RPG, Adventure
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 73% positive over 4,205 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $1.4k, median $21k, 1 in 4 over $83k, 1 in 20 over $370k.

3 in 10 developers made under $1.4k. 28 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.3 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

Loot of Baal 2025 · $370k Path of Idle: Old Gods Rising 2026 · $348k Legends of Dragaea: Idle Dungeons 2025 · $293k Miseria 2026 · $84k Adventure Land - The Code MMORPG 2026 · $65k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Loot of Baal $8.99 1,372 62% 41k $370k (exactly $370,028) Gleamer Studio
Path of Idle: Old Gods Rising $9.99 1,160 77% 35k $348k (exactly $347,652) Small Mill, Small Mill
Legends of Dragaea: Idle Dungeons $9.99 976 86% 29k $293k (exactly $292,507) Blast Programming
Miseria $7.99 350 58% 11k $84k (exactly $83,895) Somnambulist Games
Adventure Land - The Code MMORPG $14.99 144 84% 4.3k $65k (exactly $64,757) Wizard
Chronomon · EA $9.99 79 83% 2.4k $24k (exactly $23,676) Stone Golem Studios
DarkStone Restoration · EA $10.99 63 96% 1.9k $21k (exactly $20,771) Paul Cuisset
Beastrun older $4.99 38 60% 1.1k $5.7k (exactly $5,689) Sokpop Collective
Everfall: Idle Dungeon RPG $4.99 30 33% 900 $4.5k (exactly $4,491) GameDevJoey
Infinite Dungeon: Idle Adventure $4.99 23 60% 690 $3.4k (exactly $3,443) Arctic Goblins
Power heros saga $7.99 8 62% 240 $1.9k (exactly $1,918) 超巨大战喵

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