Games › Automation › Automation + Trading
Should I ship a Trading Automation game?
Automation + Trading
Of 73 developers who shipped a Trading 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.. 108 more are announced.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $4.9k, ×7.9 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $480; 1 in 20 cleared $260k, ×427 the market median. Revenue is down 95% on the market; 108 games are announced against 59 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $479 (exactly $479) |
|---|---|
| Median | $4.9k (exactly $4,947) |
| Top 25% | $65k (exactly $65,470) |
| Top 5% | $268k (exactly $267,976) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 73 |
| Released games | 115 |
| Announced | 108 |
| 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 95% on the market, supply 320% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 17%, 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
- Trading
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Automation, Trading; 9 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Management, Resource Management
- Price point
- $8.99 typical · top 25% priced $16.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $16.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.
The top 10 games average 77% positive over 5,536 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $480. 4 in 10 of the 18 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 108 games are announced against 59 developers who shipped in the last year.
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
Rise of Industry 2019 · $2.8M 
Industry Giant 4.0 2025 · $379k 
Potion Tycoon 2024 · $377k 
Center Station Simulator 2024 · EA · $332k 
Returns Outlet Simulator 2025 · EA · $276k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Rise of Industry | older | $29.99 | 3,122 74% | 94k | $2.8M (exactly $2,808,863) | Dapper Penguin Studios |
| | Industry Giant 4.0 | $24.99 | 506 33% | 15k | $379k (exactly $379,348) | Don VS Dodo | |
| | Potion Tycoon | $19.99 | 629 71% | 19k | $377k (exactly $377,211) | Snowhound Games | |
| | Center Station Simulator | · EA older | $19.99 | 554 87% | 17k | $332k (exactly $332,234) | Nightmare Phoenix |
| | Returns Outlet Simulator | · EA | $9.99 | 921 95% | 28k | $276k (exactly $276,024) | Twisted Twice Games |
 | Medieval Crafter: Blacksmith | $11.99 | 745 76% | 22k | $268k (exactly $267,976) | Compact Core Games | |
 | Console Shop Simulator | · EA | $15.99 | 516 92% | 15k | $248k (exactly $247,525) | Lance Games |
 | Crypto Miner Tycoon Simulator | older | $23.99 | 326 82% | 9.8k | $235k (exactly $234,622) | Bigosaur |
 | Crypto Mining Simulator | older | $4.99 | 1,419 65% | 43k | $212k (exactly $212,424) | Satosha Nakamoti |
 | Military Incremental Complex | $9.99 | 692 82% | 21k | $207k (exactly $207,392) | Space Kraken Studios | |
 | Bank Simulator | · EA | $14.99 | 367 70% | 11k | $165k (exactly $165,040) | Strong Bow Games |
 | Figure Shop Simulator | $12.49 | 369 84% | 11k | $138k (exactly $138,264) | Gnome Games | |
 | Arcane Merchant | $14.99 | 280 84% | 8.4k | $126k (exactly $125,916) | Findie Studios | |
 | MMO98 | $6.99 | 511 69% | 15k | $107k (exactly $107,157) | BiteMe Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.