Games › Building › Building + Crime
Should I ship a Crime Building game?
Building + Crime
Only 13 developers shipped a Crime 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, Schedule I, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 52 more are announced, ×5.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $55k, ×88 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $13k; 1 in 20 cleared $170M, ×275918 the market median. Revenue is down 70% on the market; 52 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $13k (exactly $12,592) |
|---|---|
| Median | $55k (exactly $55,390) |
| Top 25% | $219k (exactly $219,334) |
| Top 5% | $173M (exactly $173,276,718) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 13 |
| Released games | 34 |
| Announced | 52 |
| Effort | 6 / 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 down 70% on the market, supply 125% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 9%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Building; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Base Building, Simulation, Action
- Price point
- $12.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 8 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $12.99.
The top 10 games average 97% positive over 292,747 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $13k. 52 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Building with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Job SimulatorStrong odds
- + CatsFair
- + TabletopFair
- + Grid-Based MovementFair
- + Interactive FictionFair
- + Vehicular CombatPoor odds
- + JRPGPoor odds
- + Dating SimPoor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + Real-TimePoor odds
- + SailingPoor odds
- + DiplomacyPoor odds
Comparable games
Schedule I 2025 · EA · $173M 
Evil Genius 2: World Domination 2021 · $14M 
Definitely Not Fried Chicken 2023 · $1.6M 
Basement 2019 · $1.0M 
Constructor 2017 · $628k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Schedule I | · EA | $19.99 | 288,939 97% | 8.7M | $173M (exactly $173,276,718) | TVGS |
| | Evil Genius 2: World Domination | older | $39.99 | 11,255 69% | 338k | $14M (exactly $13,502,624) | Rebellion |
| | Definitely Not Fried Chicken | older | $24.99 | 2,161 72% | 65k | $1.6M (exactly $1,620,102) | Dope Games |
| | Basement | older | $19.99 | 1,684 76% | 51k | $1.0M (exactly $1,009,895) | Halfbus |
| | Constructor | older | $29.99 | 698 77% | 21k | $628k (exactly $627,991) | System 3 |
 | Drug Lord Tycoon | · EA older | $9.99 | 1,671 83% | 50k | $501k (exactly $500,799) | Duhndal |
 | Dirty Business | · EA | $14.99 | 906 75% | 27k | $407k (exactly $407,428) | Plan Dirty Games |
 | Shakedown: Hawaii | older | $19.99 | 645 90% | 19k | $387k (exactly $386,806) | Vblank Entertainment, Inc. |
 | BM General Hospital | $7.99 | 1,368 86% | 41k | $328k (exactly $327,910) | zzzgame | |
 | Weed Shop 2 | older | $9.99 | 845 86% | 25k | $253k (exactly $253,246) | ADhD Studios |
 | The Boss Gangster: Criminal Empire | · EA | $18.99 | 385 81% | 12k | $219k (exactly $219,334) | BEF GAMES |
 | Laundering Simulator - Clean Cash and Laundry | $12.99 | 399 81% | 12k | $155k (exactly $155,490) | Ritual Interactive | |
 | I Know a Guy: Shady Life Simulator | · EA | $12.99 | 398 90% | 12k | $155k (exactly $155,101) | Bunch'o'Nerds |
 | Scam Center Simulator: UnderKingdom | · EA | $10.99 | 168 75% | 5.0k | $55k (exactly $55,390) | Jiao Games |
 | My Drug Cartel | · EA | $24.99 | 48 50% | 1.4k | $36k (exactly $35,986) | Gigicom |
 | WeedEx: Drug Express Delivery | · EA | $3.99 | 108 67% | 3.2k | $13k (exactly $12,928) | CGI LAB GAMES |
 | Schedule Store Simulator | · EA | $14.99 | 28 92% | 840 | $13k (exactly $12,592) | Alkame Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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