Do I ship it?

GamesAutomationAutomation + Roguelite

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Roguelite Automation game?

Automation + Roguelite

Of 100 developers who shipped a Roguelite 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.. 166 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $4.8k, ×7.7 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $900; 1 in 20 cleared $540k, ×874 the market median. Revenue is up 10% on the market; 166 games are announced against 67 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 7.7 times the market baseline, revenue up 10% on the market, 166 announced, ×2.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Automation + Roguelite
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 100
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $3.3k → $1.9k → $1.1k → $6.5k → $3.6k → $19k → $3.8k (still earning) → $5.7k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Automation + Roguelite: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 100
Bottom 30% $898 (exactly $898)
Median $4.8k (exactly $4,823)
Top 25% $31k (exactly $31,029)
Top 5% $549k (exactly $548,634)
Developers, 2 yr 100
Released games 149
Announced 166
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $6.99

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 10% on the market, supply 90% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 6%, 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
Roguelite
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high 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, Roguelite; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Roguelike, Auto Battler
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $15.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $15.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 88% positive over 20,309 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $900, median $4.8k, 1 in 4 over $31k, 1 in 20 over $540k.

3 in 10 developers made under $900. 6 in 10 of the 37 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 166 games are announced against 67 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 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
The King is Watching $14.99 9,006 88% 270k $4.0M (exactly $4,049,998) Hypnohead
Pax Autocratica · EA $29.99 3,202 91% 96k $2.9M (exactly $2,880,839) Multiverse
Star Birds · EA $19.99 2,990 92% 90k $1.8M (exactly $1,793,103) Toukana Interactive
ShapeHero Factory $23.99 991 88% 30k $713k (exactly $713,223) Asobism.Co.,Ltd
Tower Factory · EA $14.99 1,220 89% 37k $549k (exactly $548,634) Gius Caminiti
Dream Engines: Nomad Cities older $29.99 552 73% 17k $497k (exactly $496,634) Suncrash
Rogue Voltage $15.99 593 92% 18k $284k (exactly $284,462) Horizont Computergrafik
miniBONG older $9.99 881 79% 26k $264k (exactly $264,036) Game Star
Nomad Idle $9.99 852 64% 26k $255k (exactly $255,344) The Fox Knocks
Tower Networking Inc. · EA $19.99 317 95% 9.5k $190k (exactly $190,105) Pocosia Studios
Xenopurge $12.49 419 84% 13k $157k (exactly $156,999) Traptics
Auto Rogue $6.99 719 91% 22k $151k (exactly $150,774) 定期的な宝物

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