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Should I ship a Female-Led Base Building game?
Base Building + Female Protagonist
Of 26 developers who shipped a Female-Led 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.. 82 more are announced, ×4.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $31k, ×49 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.4k; 1 in 20 cleared $2.5M, ×4093 the market median. Revenue is down 70% on the market; 82 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.3k (exactly $1,349) |
|---|---|
| Median | $31k (exactly $31,029) |
| Top 25% | $124k (exactly $124,159) |
| Top 5% | $2.6M (exactly $2,570,591) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 26 |
| Released games | 86 |
| Announced | 82 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| 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 70% on the market, supply 235% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 10%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Female Protagonist
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Base Building; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, RPG, Action-Adventure
- Price point
- $13.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Top-Down, 3D, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $13.99.
The top 10 games average 78% positive over 49,057 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.4k. 3 in 10 of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 82 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Base Building with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + ProgrammingFair
- + DwarvesFair
- + Bullet HellFair
- + DiplomacyPoor odds
- + SailingPoor odds
- + Dating SimPoor odds
- + TrainsPoor odds
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + UndergroundPoor odds
- + MarsPoor odds
- + HistoricalPoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Assassin’s Creed Shadows | $69.99 | 34,953 75% | 1.0M | $73M (exactly $73,390,814) | Ubisoft Quebec, Ubisoft Belgrade, Ubiso… (Ubisoft Quebec, Ubisoft Belgrade, Ubisoft Bordeaux, Ubisoft Bucharest & Craiova, Ubisoft Chengdu, Ubisoft Montpellier, Ubisoft Montreal, Ubisoft Osaka, Ubisoft Philippines, Ubisoft Shanghai, Ubisoft Singapore, Ubisoft Sofia, Ubisoft Ukraine) | |
| | Evil Genius 2: World Domination | older | $39.99 | 11,255 69% | 338k | $14M (exactly $13,502,624) | Rebellion |
| | Dungeons 3 | older | $29.99 | 12,648 93% | 379k | $11M (exactly $11,379,406) | Realmforge Studios |
| | ASKA | · EA older | $24.99 | 10,457 79% | 314k | $7.8M (exactly $7,839,613) | Sand Sailor Studio |
| | Severed Steel | older | $24.99 | 8,880 95% | 266k | $6.7M (exactly $6,657,336) | Greylock Studio |
| | Cinderia | · EA | $17.99 | 4,763 88% | 143k | $2.6M (exactly $2,570,591) | MyACG Studio |
| | Crashlands | older | $14.99 | 5,551 90% | 167k | $2.5M (exactly $2,496,285) | Butterscotch Shenanigans |
| | Grey Goo | older | $29.99 | 2,602 69% | 78k | $2.3M (exactly $2,341,019) | Petroglyph, Six Foot |
| | No Place Like Home | older | $19.99 | 3,784 78% | 114k | $2.3M (exactly $2,269,265) | Chicken Launcher |
| | Black Skylands | older | $19.99 | 2,849 82% | 85k | $1.7M (exactly $1,708,545) | Hungry Couch Games |
| | ContractVille | $9.99 | 5,593 80% | 168k | $1.7M (exactly $1,676,222) | MYM Games Studios | |
| | AETHUS | $19.99 | 2,030 94% | 61k | $1.2M (exactly $1,217,391) | Pawsmonaut Games | |
| | Concubine | · EA | $14.99 | 517 81% | 16k | $232k (exactly $232,495) | Upgrade Entertainment |
| | Futanari★Coffee shop | $13.99 | 357 91% | 11k | $150k (exactly $149,833) | W77Games | |
| | Honeycomb: The World Beyond | $29.99 | 138 65% | 4.1k | $124k (exactly $124,159) | Frozen Way | |
| | Bounty Star | $24.99 | 159 65% | 4.8k | $119k (exactly $119,202) | DINOGOD | |
| | Latex & Tentacles | $10.99 | 343 67% | 10k | $113k (exactly $113,087) | ZXC, GODNASK | |
| | Lazy Witch's Factory | · EA | $15.99 | 204 91% | 6.1k | $98k (exactly $97,859) | MELTCLOCK.Inc |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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