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Should I ship a Level Editor Base Building game?
Base Building + Level Editor
Of 36 developers who shipped a Level Editor 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.. 96 more are announced, ×4.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $3.8k, ×6.0 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $11M, ×17601 the market median. Revenue is up 30% on the market; 96 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $450 (exactly $450) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.8k (exactly $3,775) |
| Top 25% | $87k (exactly $86,913) |
| Top 5% | $11M (exactly $11,053,714) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 36 |
| Released games | 106 |
| Announced | 96 |
| Effort | 5 / 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 up 30% on the market, supply 40% 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
- Level Editor
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Base Building, Level Editor; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Strategy, Building
- Price point
- $8.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 69,712 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $450. 6 in 10 of the 15 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 96 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.6 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Base Building with a different second tag, 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
Timberborn 2026 · $40M 
Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition 2020 · $39M 
Command & Conquer™ Remastered Collection 2020 · $19M 
Age of Mythology: Retold 2024 · $19M 
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Definitive Edition 2025 · $11M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Timberborn | $34.99 | 38,529 95% | 1.2M | $40M (exactly $40,443,891) | Mechanistry | |
| | Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition | older | $34.99 | 37,093 84% | 1.1M | $39M (exactly $38,936,522) | World's Edge, Tantalus Media, Forgotten… (World's Edge, Tantalus Media, Forgotten Empires) |
| | Command & Conquer™ Remastered Collection | older | $19.99 | 31,503 90% | 945k | $19M (exactly $18,892,349) | Petroglyph, Lemon Sky Studios |
| | Age of Mythology: Retold | older | $29.99 | 20,943 90% | 628k | $19M (exactly $18,842,417) | World's Edge, Forgotten Empires, Tantal… (World's Edge, Forgotten Empires, Tantalus Media, CaptureAge, Virtuos Games) |
| | Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Definitive Edition | $29.99 | 12,286 85% | 369k | $11M (exactly $11,053,714) | Relic Entertainment | |
 | Diplomacy is Not an Option | $29.99 | 10,904 85% | 327k | $9.8M (exactly $9,810,329) | Door 407 | |
 | Forts | older | $14.99 | 21,216 92% | 636k | $9.5M (exactly $9,540,835) | EarthWork Games |
 | Mindustry | older | $9.99 | 24,608 95% | 738k | $7.4M (exactly $7,375,018) | AnukenDev |
 | Severed Steel | older | $24.99 | 8,880 95% | 266k | $6.7M (exactly $6,657,336) | Greylock Studio |
 | War for the Overworld | older | $29.99 | 6,495 85% | 195k | $5.8M (exactly $5,843,552) | Brightrock Games |
 | s&box | $9.99 | 5,118 46% | 154k | $1.5M (exactly $1,533,865) | Facepunch Studios | |
 | Citadelum | $24.99 | 1,005 83% | 30k | $753k (exactly $753,448) | Abylight Barcelona | |
 | Annihilate The Spance | · EA | $29.99 | 347 90% | 10k | $312k (exactly $312,196) | Skyglow Softworks |
 | Hometopia | $8.99 | 777 57% | 23k | $210k (exactly $209,557) | Hometopia Inc. | |
 | Block Fortress 2 | $19.99 | 264 81% | 7.9k | $158k (exactly $158,321) | Foursaken Media | |
 | CFS (Chinese Football Simulator) | $9.99 | 290 67% | 8.7k | $87k (exactly $86,913) | 悟空实验室 | |
 | Outside the Blocks | $14.99 | 192 87% | 5.8k | $86k (exactly $86,342) | Michał Kubas |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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