Games › Automation › Automation + Robots
Should I ship a Robot Automation game?
Automation + Robots
Of 39 developers who shipped a Robot 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.. 104 more are announced, ×4.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $3.8k, ×6.0 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $510k, ×821 the market median. Revenue is down 85% on the market; 104 games are announced against 23 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $180 (exactly $180) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.8k (exactly $3,774) |
| Top 25% | $23k (exactly $23,079) |
| Top 5% | $515k (exactly $515,307) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 39 |
| Released games | 118 |
| Announced | 104 |
| 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 85% on the market, supply 45% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Robots
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Automation; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Crafting, Exploration
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 84% positive over 4,171 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $180. 6 in 10 of the 17 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 104 games are announced against 23 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Automation with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Job SimulatorStrong odds
- + Female ProtagonistStrong odds
- + Open World Survival CraftFair
- + HorrorFair
- + HistoricalFair
- + UndergroundFair
- + Class-BasedFair
- + MiningFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + ProgrammingFair
- + FishingFair
- + Turn-Based TacticsFair
Comparable games
Outpost: Infinity Siege 2024 · $8.7M 
Per Aspera 2020 · $3.7M 
FOUNDRY 2024 · EA · $2.9M 
Automation Empire 2019 · $2.3M 
Autonauts 2019 · $2.2M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Outpost: Infinity Siege | older | $24.99 | 11,636 65% | 349k | $8.7M (exactly $8,723,509) | Team Ranger |
| | Per Aspera | older | $29.99 | 4,105 76% | 123k | $3.7M (exactly $3,693,268) | Tlön Industries |
| | FOUNDRY | · EA older | $29.99 | 3,272 82% | 98k | $2.9M (exactly $2,943,818) | Channel 3 Entertainment |
| | Automation Empire | older | $29.99 | 2,584 65% | 78k | $2.3M (exactly $2,324,825) | DOG HOGGLER |
| | Autonauts | older | $19.99 | 3,596 90% | 108k | $2.2M (exactly $2,156,521) | Denki |
 | Taur | older | $24.99 | 2,011 79% | 60k | $1.5M (exactly $1,507,647) | Echo Entertainment |
 | Nova Lands | older | $19.99 | 2,512 90% | 75k | $1.5M (exactly $1,506,446) | BEHEMUTT |
 | Good Company | older | $24.99 | 1,480 73% | 44k | $1.1M (exactly $1,109,556) | Chasing Carrots |
 | Nimbatus - The Space Drone Constructor | older | $19.99 | 1,758 78% | 53k | $1.1M (exactly $1,054,273) | Stray Fawn Studio |
 | The Colonists | older | $24.99 | 1,052 85% | 32k | $789k (exactly $788,684) | Codebyfire |
 | Microtopia | $19.99 | 881 87% | 26k | $528k (exactly $528,336) | Cordyceps Collective | |
 | Blossom: The Seed of Life | $16.99 | 1,011 88% | 30k | $515k (exactly $515,307) | Pebbledust Games | |
 | Astronomics | · EA | $19.99 | 706 89% | 21k | $423k (exactly $423,388) | Numizmatic |
 | Craftomation 101: Programming & Craft | $14.99 | 636 83% | 19k | $286k (exactly $286,009) | Luden.io | |
 | JOY OF PROGRAMMING - Software Engineering Simulator | $17.99 | 378 76% | 11k | $204k (exactly $204,007) | Prof. Scherer | |
 | Icaria | $24.99 | 79 75% | 2.4k | $59k (exactly $59,226) | Blindsight Games LLC | |
 | Chipmatic | $11.99 | 158 65% | 4.7k | $57k (exactly $56,833) | Molter | |
 | Prospector | $14.99 | 111 64% | 3.3k | $50k (exactly $49,917) | Loonworks Games | |
 | Mashina | $9.99 | 141 97% | 4.2k | $42k (exactly $42,258) | Talha and Jack Co, J. King-Spooner, Tal… (Talha and Jack Co, J. King-Spooner, Talha Kaya) | |
 | Faun Town | $10.99 | 70 68% | 2.1k | $23k (exactly $23,079) | 游乐坊 |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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