Games › Base Building › Base Building + Modern
Should I ship a Modern-Day Base Building game?
Base Building + Modern
Of 24 developers who shipped a Modern-Day 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.. 50 more are announced, ×5.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $29k, ×46 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.1k; 1 in 20 cleared $16M, ×25841 the market median. Revenue is up 165% on the market; 50 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.1k (exactly $1,077) |
|---|---|
| Median | $29k (exactly $28,786) |
| Top 25% | $103k (exactly $103,116) |
| Top 5% | $16M (exactly $16,228,342) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 24 |
| Released games | 56 |
| Announced | 50 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $11.99 |
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 165% on the market, supply 30% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 11%, 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
- Modern
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Base Building; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Building, Immersive Sim
- Price point
- $11.99 typical · top 25% priced $39.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $39.99 or above; the middle game at $11.99.
The top 10 games average 80% positive over 88,643 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.1k. 6 in 10 of the 18 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 50 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.0 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
Squad 2020 · $217M 
WARDOGS 2026 · EA · $70M 
RoadCraft 2025 · $16M 
Tempest Rising 2025 · $12M 
ContractVille 2025 · $1.7M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Squad | older | $39.99 | 180,505 82% | 5.4M | $217M (exactly $216,551,848) | Offworld |
| | WARDOGS | · EA | $39.99 | 58,250 81% | 1.7M | $70M (exactly $69,882,525) | BULKHEAD |
| | RoadCraft | $39.99 | 13,527 74% | 406k | $16M (exactly $16,228,342) | Saber Interactive | |
| | Tempest Rising | $39.99 | 9,811 87% | 294k | $12M (exactly $11,770,257) | Slipgate Ironworks™ | |
| | ContractVille | $9.99 | 5,593 80% | 168k | $1.7M (exactly $1,676,222) | MYM Games Studios | |
 | InfraSpace | older | $24.99 | 1,638 82% | 49k | $1.2M (exactly $1,228,009) | Dionic Software |
 | Power to the People | older | $14.99 | 472 79% | 14k | $212k (exactly $212,258) | Rhombico Games |
 | Hometopia | $8.99 | 777 57% | 23k | $210k (exactly $209,557) | Hometopia Inc. | |
 | Mad Smartphone Tycoon | older | $11.99 | 577 71% | 17k | $208k (exactly $207,547) | Miradil |
 | Train Station Simulator | · EA older | $16.99 | 229 55% | 6.9k | $117k (exactly $116,721) | Appliks Apps Studios |
 | Entertainment Simulator | $18.99 | 181 73% | 5.4k | $103k (exactly $103,116) | Grizzbera Studio | |
 | Ship of Heroes | $29.99 | 91 27% | 2.7k | $82k (exactly $81,873) | Heroic Games Corporation | |
 | Terminal One | $19.99 | 96 66% | 2.9k | $58k (exactly $57,571) | Terminal Reality | |
 | Beauty Store Simulator | $9.99 | 176 86% | 5.3k | $53k (exactly $52,747) | NovaraGames | |
 | Miami Hotel Simulator | $11.99 | 141 73% | 4.2k | $51k (exactly $50,718) | Last Howl |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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