Do I ship it?

Games › Automation › Automation + Tactical

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Automation Tactical game?

Automation + Tactical

Of 45 developers who shipped an Automation Tactical 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.. 105 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 $960, ×1.5 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $350; 1 in 20 cleared $100k, ×169 the market median. Revenue is down 55% on the market; 105 games are announced against 31 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.5 times the market baseline, revenue down 55% on the market, 105 announced, ×3.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Automation + Tactical
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 45
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $28k → $600 → $3.3k → $1.3k → $1.7k → $14k → $674 (still earning) → $628 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Automation + Tactical: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 45
Bottom 30% $341 (exactly $341)
Median $959 (exactly $959)
Top 25% $6.0k (exactly $5,988)
Top 5% $106k (exactly $106,427)
Developers, 2 yr 45
Released games 107
Announced 105
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $7.49

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 55% on the market, supply 105% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 14%, 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
Tactical
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, Tactical; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Management, Auto Battler
Price point
$7.49 typical · top 25% priced $12.49 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, 3D, Pixel Graphics
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $12.49 or above; the middle game at $7.49.

The top 10 games average 86% positive over 10,636 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $350, median $960, 1 in 4 over $5.9k, 1 in 20 over $100k.

3 in 10 developers made under $350. 9 in 10 of the 19 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 105 games are announced against 31 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

The King is Watching 2025 · $4.0M Little Big Workshop 2019 · $1.5M Taur 2020 · $1.5M GLADIABOTS - AI Combat Arena 2019 · $380k No Creeps Were Harmed TD 2024 · $281k
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
Little Big Workshop older $19.99 2,522 84% 76k $1.5M (exactly $1,512,443) Mirage Game Studios
Taur older $24.99 2,011 79% 60k $1.5M (exactly $1,507,647) Echo Entertainment
GLADIABOTS - AI Combat Arena older $14.99 846 87% 25k $380k (exactly $380,446) GFX47
No Creeps Were Harmed TD older $19.99 468 88% 14k $281k (exactly $280,660) MinMax Games Ltd.
Automachef older $14.99 522 75% 16k $235k (exactly $234,743) Rhombico Games
Xenopurge $12.49 419 84% 13k $157k (exactly $156,999) Traptics
Orc Incremental $7.99 444 75% 13k $106k (exactly $106,427) Nice Ride
CFS (Chinese Football Simulator) $9.99 290 67% 8.7k $87k (exactly $86,913) 悟空实验室
BARRICADEZ older $18.99 117 78% 3.5k $67k (exactly $66,655) Fly Penguin inc.
Business Simulator 2026 · EA $11.99 178 74% 5.3k $64k (exactly $64,027) HOGO Games
Evolve Lab · EA $14.99 69 94% 2.1k $31k (exactly $31,029) SiRen Games
Next Reign: Kingdom $4.99 125 92% 3.8k $19k (exactly $18,712) Tiny Tulip Games
Echoes of the Architects $9.99 46 80% 1.4k $14k (exactly $13,786) GFX47
A Factory Roguelike $11.99 22 77% 660 $7.9k (exactly $7,913) Pedro Anjos
Idle Together $6.99 37 75% 1.1k $7.8k (exactly $7,759) Eragone

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