Games › Automation › Automation + RPG
Should I ship an Automation RPG?
Automation + RPG
Of 154 developers who shipped an Automation RPG 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.. 253 more are announced, ×2.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $5.1k, ×8.1 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $900; 1 in 20 cleared $370k, ×589 the market median. Revenue is up 175% on the market; 253 games are announced against 104 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $898 (exactly $898) |
|---|---|
| Median | $5.1k (exactly $5,074) |
| Top 25% | $41k (exactly $41,467) |
| Top 5% | $370k (exactly $370,028) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 154 |
| Released games | 278 |
| Announced | 253 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $5.99 |
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 175% on the market, supply 100% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 19%, 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
- RPG
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Automation, RPG; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Idler, Simulation
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 94% positive over 451,257 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $900. 7 in 10 of the 63 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 253 games are announced against 104 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Automation with a different second tag, 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
Palworld 2026 · $371M 
Craftopia 2020 · EA · $13M 
Necesse 2025 · $11M 
Melvor Idle 2021 · $4.4M 
Sandustry 2026 · EA · $2.2M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Palworld | $29.99 | 411,947 94% | 12M | $371M (exactly $370,628,716) | Pocketpair | |
| | 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 | |
| | Melvor Idle | older | $9.99 | 14,630 90% | 439k | $4.4M (exactly $4,384,611) | Games by Malcs |
| | Sandustry | · EA | $14.99 | 4,805 97% | 144k | $2.2M (exactly $2,160,808) | Lantto Games |
 | Hammerting | older | $24.99 | 1,733 57% | 52k | $1.3M (exactly $1,299,230) | Warpzone Studios |
 | FortressCraft Evolved! | older | $12.99 | 2,653 72% | 80k | $1.0M (exactly $1,033,874) | ProjectorGames |
 | Return from Core | $16.99 | 1,620 75% | 49k | $826k (exactly $825,714) | 顽核社 FuncoreClub | |
 | Little Rocket Lab | $19.99 | 1,286 90% | 39k | $771k (exactly $771,214) | Teenage Astronauts | |
 | Cavalry Girls | older | $11.99 | 1,877 88% | 56k | $675k (exactly $675,157) | 中子星游戏研究所 |
 | Crusaders Quest : Hero Town | $6.99 | 2,564 76% | 77k | $538k (exactly $537,671) | CQ LABS | |
 | Omega Crafter | $24.99 | 529 77% | 16k | $397k (exactly $396,591) | Preferred Networks | |
 | 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 | |
 | Forage Wizard | $6.99 | 1,549 87% | 46k | $325k (exactly $324,825) | Lost Maxim |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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