Games › Driving › Driving + Base Building
Should I ship a Base Building Driving game?
Driving + Base Building
Of 25 developers who shipped a Base Building Driving 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.. 82 more are announced, ×5.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $32k, ×50 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $5.1k; 1 in 20 cleared $16M, ×25841 the market median. Revenue is down 95% on the market; 82 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $5.1k (exactly $5,095) |
|---|---|
| Median | $32k (exactly $31,566) |
| Top 25% | $369k (exactly $368,916) |
| Top 5% | $16M (exactly $16,228,342) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 25 |
| Released games | 68 |
| Announced | 82 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $13.99 |
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 50% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 15%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Driving
- effort 6 / 10 · low · vehicle handling feel is tuned by hand
- Base Building
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Driving, Base Building; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Building, Simulation, Crafting
- Price point
- $13.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 9 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $13.99.
The top 10 games average 95% positive over 313,982 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $5.1k. 4 in 10 of the 11 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 82 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Driving with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Split ScreenFair
- + Psychological HorrorFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Survival HorrorFair
- + World War IIFair
- + MusicFair
- + ThrillerFair
- + Interactive FictionFair
- + LogicFair
- + Hidden ObjectFair
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
- + AutomationPoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Schedule I | · EA | $19.99 | 288,939 97% | 8.7M | $173M (exactly $173,276,718) | TVGS |
| | Pacific Drive | older | $29.99 | 21,547 83% | 646k | $19M (exactly $19,385,836) | Ironwood Studios |
| | RoadCraft | $39.99 | 13,527 74% | 406k | $16M (exactly $16,228,342) | Saber Interactive | |
| | Gas Station Simulator | older | $19.99 | 23,839 88% | 715k | $14M (exactly $14,296,248) | DRAGO entertainment |
| | F1® Manager 2024 | older | $34.99 | 5,554 83% | 167k | $5.8M (exactly $5,830,034) | Frontier Developments |
| | Expeditions: A MudRunner Game | older | $39.99 | 3,000 59% | 90k | $3.6M (exactly $3,599,100) | Saber Interactive |
| | ContractVille | $9.99 | 5,593 80% | 168k | $1.7M (exactly $1,676,222) | MYM Games Studios | |
| | Outbound | $24.99 | 1,788 73% | 54k | $1.3M (exactly $1,340,464) | Square Glade Games | |
| | Landlord's Super | older | $19.99 | 1,442 80% | 43k | $865k (exactly $864,767) | Minskworks |
| | Outbreak Island | · EA | $14.99 | 955 78% | 29k | $429k (exactly $429,464) | Tiny Magicians |
| | Dirty Business | · EA | $14.99 | 906 75% | 27k | $407k (exactly $407,428) | Plan Dirty Games |
| | Fuel Harvest Together | $13.99 | 879 69% | 26k | $369k (exactly $368,916) | Say2Sun | |
| | It's Only Money | $24.99 | 473 78% | 14k | $355k (exactly $354,608) | Usual Suspects Studios | |
| | The Boss Gangster: Criminal Empire | · EA | $18.99 | 385 81% | 12k | $219k (exactly $219,334) | BEF GAMES |
| | Factory Outlet Simulator | $10.99 | 537 74% | 16k | $177k (exactly $177,049) | PISHO |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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