Do I ship it?

Games › Base Building › Base Building + Dystopian

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Dystopian Base Building game?

Base Building + Dystopian

Of 26 developers who shipped a Dystopian Base Building 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.. 83 more are announced, ×4.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.9k, ×3.1 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $900; 1 in 20 cleared $110k, ×187 the market median. Revenue is down 95% on the market; 83 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.1 times the market baseline, revenue down 95% on the market, 83 announced, ×4.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Base Building + Dystopian
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 26
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $85k → $12k → $28k → $7.2k → $989 (still earning) → $8.2k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Base Building + Dystopian: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 26
Bottom 30% $899 (exactly $899)
Median $1.9k (exactly $1,948)
Top 25% $41k (exactly $41,228)
Top 5% $118k (exactly $117,655)
Developers, 2 yr 26
Released games 68
Announced 83
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $9.99

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: 19%, 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.

Base Building
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Dystopian
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Base Building; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Action, Building
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Top-Down
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 81% positive over 4,004 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $900, median $1.9k, 1 in 4 over $41k, 1 in 20 over $110k.

3 in 10 developers made under $900. 5 in 10 of the 8 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 83 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.0 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Base Building with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + ProgrammingFair13 devs · median $53k · 21 announced
  2. + DwarvesFair12 devs · median $13k · 19 announced
  3. + Bullet HellFair61 devs · median $540 · 67 announced
  4. + DiplomacyPoor odds19 devs · median $520k · 47 announced
  5. + SailingPoor odds9 devs · median $356k · 38 announced
  6. + Dating SimPoor odds19 devs · median $128k · 21 announced
  7. + TrainsPoor odds19 devs · median $113k · 47 announced
  8. + Real-Time with PausePoor odds20 devs · median $73k · 35 announced
  9. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds130 devs · median $72k · 262 announced
  10. + UndergroundPoor odds12 devs · median $65k · 71 announced
  11. + MarsPoor odds15 devs · median $58k · 28 announced
  12. + HistoricalPoor odds81 devs · median $58k · 175 announced

All 175 pairs on the Base Building page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Infection Free Zone 2024 · EA · $12M DYSMANTLE 2021 · $6.6M AI＊Shoujo/AI＊少女 2020 · $4.4M Landlord's Super 2023 · $865k After Inc: Revival 2026 · $799k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Infection Free Zone · EA older $24.99 16,568 80% 497k $12M (exactly $12,421,030) Jutsu Games
DYSMANTLE older $19.99 11,022 91% 331k $6.6M (exactly $6,609,893) 10tons Ltd
AI＊Shoujo/AI＊少女 older $69.99 2,100 75% 63k $4.4M (exactly $4,409,370) ILLUSION
Landlord's Super older $19.99 1,442 80% 43k $865k (exactly $864,767) Minskworks
After Inc: Revival $17.99 1,480 77% 44k $799k (exactly $798,756) Ndemic Creations
Dystopika older $6.99 3,413 95% 102k $716k (exactly $715,706) Voids Within
Decision: Red Daze older $19.99 855 74% 26k $513k (exactly $512,743) FlyAnvil
Nuclear Dawn older $9.99 1,619 78% 49k $485k (exactly $485,214) GameConnect, InterWave Studios
Bot Wars · EA older $14.99 700 86% 21k $315k (exactly $314,790) Frompy Games
JUNKPUNK · EA older $15.99 641 60% 19k $307k (exactly $307,488) SCT
Dying Breed · EA $17.99 218 71% 6.5k $118k (exactly $117,655) Sarnayer
Fill Up The Hole $2.99 1,165 90% 35k $105k (exactly $104,501) Fluffy Lotus
The Last FARMER $12.99 258 56% 7.7k $101k (exactly $100,543) Geekon
Frozen Ship · EA $19.99 142 76% 4.3k $85k (exactly $85,157) Nionetix
Decision Legacy Collection $9.99 171 83% 5.1k $51k (exactly $51,249) FlyAnvil
Red Rocket Defencism $7.99 172 98% 5.2k $41k (exactly $41,228) tiny cactus studio
Legitimate Space Corp Simulator LLC $12.99 82 69% 2.5k $32k (exactly $31,955) VHornet Games
Colony 37 · EA $2.99 224 95% 6.7k $20k (exactly $20,093) Valen
Paperwork $3.99 92 95% 2.8k $11k (exactly $11,012) Broken Record Studio

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