Do I ship it?

Games › Automation › Automation + Procedural Generation

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Procedural Generation Automation game?

Automation + Procedural Generation

Of 101 developers who shipped a Procedural Generation 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.. 207 more are announced, ×3.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $5.3k, ×8.4 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $480; 1 in 20 cleared $540k, ×874 the market median. Revenue is down 70% on the market; 207 games are announced against 61 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 8.4 times the market baseline, revenue down 70% on the market, 207 announced, ×3.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Automation + Procedural Generation
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 101
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $4.2k → $7.8k → $13k → $66k → $24k → $4.6k → $2.5k (still earning) → $1.8k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Automation + Procedural Generation: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 101
Bottom 30% $479 (exactly $479)
Median $5.3k (exactly $5,273)
Top 25% $59k (exactly $59,226)
Top 5% $549k (exactly $548,634)
Developers, 2 yr 101
Released games 177
Announced 207
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 down 70% on the market, supply 50% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 7%, 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
Procedural Generation
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 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, Procedural Generation; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Resource Management, Strategy
Price point
$8.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.

The top 10 games average 90% positive over 28,412 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $480, median $5.3k, 1 in 4 over $59k, 1 in 20 over $540k.

3 in 10 developers made under $480. 6 in 10 of the 43 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 207 games are announced against 61 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.4 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

shapez 2 - Factory 2026 · $12M Software Inc. 2015 · EA · $5.2M shapez 2020 · $4.3M Flotsam 2025 · $3.2M FOUNDRY 2024 · EA · $2.9M
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
Software Inc. · EA older $22.99 7,576 94% 227k $5.2M (exactly $5,225,167) Coredumping
shapez older $9.99 14,252 96% 428k $4.3M (exactly $4,271,324) Tobias Springer
Flotsam $24.99 4,308 80% 129k $3.2M (exactly $3,229,708) Pajama Llama Games
FOUNDRY · EA older $29.99 3,272 82% 98k $2.9M (exactly $2,943,818) Channel 3 Entertainment
Plan B: Terraform $15.99 3,526 91% 106k $1.7M (exactly $1,691,422) Gaddy Games
Oddsparks: An Automation Adventure $29.99 1,867 82% 56k $1.7M (exactly $1,679,740) Massive Miniteam
Hammerting older $24.99 1,733 57% 52k $1.3M (exactly $1,299,230) Warpzone Studios
Orebound · EA $24.99 945 77% 28k $708k (exactly $708,466) Emberforge
Station to Station older $17.99 1,239 89% 37k $669k (exactly $668,688) Galaxy Grove
Tower Factory · EA $14.99 1,220 89% 37k $549k (exactly $548,634) Gius Caminiti
Microtopia $19.99 881 87% 26k $528k (exactly $528,336) Cordyceps Collective
Astronomics · EA $19.99 706 89% 21k $423k (exactly $423,388) Numizmatic
Ecosystem $19.99 601 76% 18k $360k (exactly $360,420) Tom Johnson
Space Trash Scavenger $19.99 512 82% 15k $307k (exactly $307,046) SquarePlay Games

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