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Should I ship a Robot Base Building game?
Base Building + Robots
Of 45 developers who shipped a Robot 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.. 143 more are announced, ×4.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.6k, ×2.5 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $510k, ×821 the market median. Revenue is down 95% on the market; 143 games are announced against 29 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $359 (exactly $359) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.6k (exactly $1,556) |
| Top 25% | $27k (exactly $26,863) |
| Top 5% | $515k (exactly $515,307) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 45 |
| Released games | 139 |
| Announced | 143 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 80% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 12%, 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
- Robots
- 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; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Building, Crafting
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 83% positive over 4,695 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $360. 7 in 10 of the 18 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 143 games are announced against 29 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.9 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
Generation Zero® 2019 · $22M 
Planetary Annihilation: TITANS 2015 · $10M 
Outpost: Infinity Siege 2024 · $8.7M 
Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance 2011 · $3.9M 
Per Aspera 2020 · $3.7M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Generation Zero® | older | $24.99 | 29,115 75% | 873k | $22M (exactly $21,827,516) | Systemic Reaction™ |
| | Planetary Annihilation: TITANS | older | $29.99 | 11,401 84% | 342k | $10M (exactly $10,257,480) | Planetary Annihilation Inc |
| | Outpost: Infinity Siege | older | $24.99 | 11,636 65% | 349k | $8.7M (exactly $8,723,509) | Team Ranger |
| | Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance | older | $12.99 | 9,919 96% | 298k | $3.9M (exactly $3,865,434) | Gas Powered Games |
| | Per Aspera | older | $29.99 | 4,105 76% | 123k | $3.7M (exactly $3,693,268) | Tlön Industries |
 | Supreme Commander 2 | older | $12.99 | 8,349 87% | 250k | $3.3M (exactly $3,253,605) | Gas Powered Games |
 | FOUNDRY | · EA older | $29.99 | 3,272 82% | 98k | $2.9M (exactly $2,943,818) | Channel 3 Entertainment |
 | Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation | older | $29.99 | 2,704 76% | 81k | $2.4M (exactly $2,432,789) | Stardock Entertainment, Oxide Games |
 | Grey Goo | older | $29.99 | 2,602 69% | 78k | $2.3M (exactly $2,341,019) | Petroglyph, Six Foot |
 | Automation Empire | older | $29.99 | 2,584 65% | 78k | $2.3M (exactly $2,324,825) | DOG HOGGLER |
 | ZeroSpace | · EA | $39.99 | 1,161 78% | 35k | $1.4M (exactly $1,392,852) | Starlance Studios, Ironward |
 | Microtopia | $19.99 | 881 87% | 26k | $528k (exactly $528,336) | Cordyceps Collective | |
 | Blossom: The Seed of Life | $16.99 | 1,011 88% | 30k | $515k (exactly $515,307) | Pebbledust Games | |
 | Annihilate The Spance | · EA | $29.99 | 347 90% | 10k | $312k (exactly $312,196) | Skyglow Softworks |
 | Craftomation 101: Programming & Craft | $14.99 | 636 83% | 19k | $286k (exactly $286,009) | Luden.io | |
 | Bounty Star | $24.99 | 159 65% | 4.8k | $119k (exactly $119,202) | DINOGOD | |
 | Mineral Defense | $14.99 | 220 90% | 6.6k | $99k (exactly $98,934) | Corestone Games | |
 | Chip ‘n Clawz vs. The Brainioids | $29.99 | 90 83% | 2.7k | $81k (exactly $80,973) | Snapshot Games Inc. | |
 | Icaria | $24.99 | 79 75% | 2.4k | $59k (exactly $59,226) | Blindsight Games LLC | |
 | Prospector | $14.99 | 111 64% | 3.3k | $50k (exactly $49,917) | Loonworks Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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