Games › Base Building › Base Building + Western
Should I ship a Western Base Building game?
Base Building + Western
Only 13 developers shipped a Western Base Building game in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Bounty Star, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 19 more are announced, ×2.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $7.0k, ×11 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.2k; 1 in 20 cleared $110k, ×190 the market median. Revenue is up 1255% on the market; 19 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.2k (exactly $1,198) |
|---|---|
| Median | $7.0k (exactly $7,016) |
| Top 25% | $24k (exactly $23,747) |
| Top 5% | $119k (exactly $119,202) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 13 |
| Released games | 29 |
| Announced | 19 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $12.99 |
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 1255% on the market, supply 60% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, 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
- Western
- 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
- Price point
- $12.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 10 games average 60% positive over 496 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.2k. All of the 5 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 19 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 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
Outlaws of the Old West 2019 · EA · $3.3M 
SteamWorld Build 2023 · $1.4M 
Wild West Legacy 2024 · $1.4M 
Above Snakes 2023 · $1.2M 
Depraved 2019 · $677k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Outlaws of the Old West | · EA older | $19.99 | 5,584 58% | 168k | $3.3M (exactly $3,348,725) | Virtual Basement LLC |
| | SteamWorld Build | older | $24.99 | 1,884 83% | 57k | $1.4M (exactly $1,412,435) | The Station |
| | Wild West Legacy | older | $26.99 | 1,706 39% | 51k | $1.4M (exactly $1,381,348) | Moon Punch Studio |
| | Above Snakes | older | $24.99 | 1,574 74% | 47k | $1.2M (exactly $1,180,028) | Square Glade Games |
| | Depraved | older | $19.99 | 1,129 60% | 34k | $677k (exactly $677,061) | Evil Bite |
 | Desert Skies | · EA older | $19.99 | 423 56% | 13k | $254k (exactly $253,673) | White_Rabbit_Games |
 | Bounty Star | $24.99 | 159 65% | 4.8k | $119k (exactly $119,202) | DINOGOD | |
 | Western Rye | · EA | $21.99 | 104 53% | 3.1k | $69k (exactly $68,609) | Nixalon Studios |
 | Frontier Legends | · EA | $29.99 | 57 40% | 1.7k | $51k (exactly $51,283) | Neojac Entertainment Inc. |
 | Ranchbound | · EA | $17.99 | 44 50% | 1.3k | $24k (exactly $23,747) | Eldersong Games |
 | Union Of Rivals | · EA | $25.49 | 31 64% | 930 | $24k (exactly $23,706) | 2Play |
 | Fuel Station Simulator | $6.99 | 55 60% | 1.7k | $12k (exactly $11,534) | QuantumPlay Studios | |
 | Arcane Wilds | · EA | $17.99 | 13 76% | 390 | $7.0k (exactly $7,016) | Avancadia |
 | Golden Rails: The heart of the state | $6.99 | 15 93% | 450 | $3.1k (exactly $3,146) | Alawar Casual | |
 | A Fistful Of Yankees | $6.99 | 10 90% | 300 | $2.1k (exactly $2,097) | Pulsar Creation | |
 | The First Mine | $4.99 | 8 87% | 240 | $1.2k (exactly $1,198) | Stefan Böttcher |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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