Games › Automation › Automation + Underground
Should I ship an Underground Automation game?
Automation + Underground
Of 20 developers who shipped an Underground 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.. 32 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $7.4k, ×12 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $680. Momentum is unreadable here, too few recent games; 32 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $674 (exactly $674) |
|---|---|
| Median | $7.4k (exactly $7,431) |
| Top 25% | $133k (exactly $133,160) |
| Top 5% | $1.9M (exactly $1,947,201) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 20 |
| Released games | 31 |
| Announced | 32 |
| 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 too few recent games to read momentum, supply 800% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 13%, 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
- Underground
- 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; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Action, Building
- Price point
- $7.49 typical · top 25% priced $16.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, 3D, Realistic
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $16.99 or above; the middle game at $7.49.
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 8,866 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $680. 32 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year.
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
- + Class-BasedFair
- + MiningFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + ProgrammingFair
- + FishingFair
- + Turn-Based TacticsFair
- + DeckbuildingFair
Comparable games
MineMogul 2025 · EA · $1.9M 
Alaska Gold Fever 2026 · $489k 
Dirty Business 2026 · EA · $407k 
Project P.I.T.T. 2026 · $288k 
Diggin 2026 · $133k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | MineMogul | · EA | $14.99 | 4,330 96% | 130k | $1.9M (exactly $1,947,201) | NoodleForge (Gvarados & Diomonder) |
| | Alaska Gold Fever | $16.99 | 959 79% | 29k | $489k (exactly $488,802) | Baked Games | |
| | Dirty Business | · EA | $14.99 | 906 75% | 27k | $407k (exactly $407,428) | Plan Dirty Games |
| | Project P.I.T.T. | $9.99 | 961 78% | 29k | $288k (exactly $288,012) | Froke | |
| | Diggin | $6.99 | 635 80% | 19k | $133k (exactly $133,160) | Longshot Studio | |
 | Tunnet | older | $5.99 | 699 94% | 21k | $126k (exactly $125,610) | puzzled_squid |
 | Kin and Quarry | $9.99 | 400 75% | 12k | $120k (exactly $119,880) | The Fox Knocks | |
 | Idle Deepcore | $6.99 | 365 85% | 11k | $77k (exactly $76,540) | Bluehood Games | |
 | Aground Zero | $19.99 | 121 81% | 3.6k | $73k (exactly $72,564) | Fancy Fish Games | |
 | Chipmatic | $11.99 | 158 65% | 4.7k | $57k (exactly $56,833) | Molter | |
 | Rift Miner | $7.99 | 31 93% | 930 | $7.4k (exactly $7,431) | TIDERAFT |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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