Do I ship it?

Games › Building › Building + Job Simulator

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Building Job Simulator?

Building + Job Simulator

Of 66 developers who shipped a Building Job Simulator 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.. 70 more are announced.

Verdict: strong odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $28k, ×44 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 7 in 10 cleared $12k. Revenue is up 115% on the market; 70 games are announced against 47 developers who shipped in the last year, ×1.5 per shipper.

Deciding numbers: median 44.4 times the market baseline, revenue up 115% on the market, 70 announced, ×1.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Building + Job Simulator
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 66
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $498k → $25k → $43k → $25k → $54k (still earning) → $23k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Building + Job Simulator: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 66
Bottom 30% $13k (exactly $12,592)
Median $28k (exactly $27,881)
Top 25% $207k (exactly $207,392)
Top 5% $1.8M (exactly $1,844,385)
Developers, 2 yr 66
Released games 83
Announced 70
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 115% on the market, supply 145% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 7%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Building
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Job Simulator
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Building, Job Simulator; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Management, Economy
Price point
$11.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.69 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person, Relaxing
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.69 or above; the middle game at $11.99.

The top 10 games average 91% positive over 26,432 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $13k, median $28k, 1 in 4 over $200k, 1 in 20 over $1.8M.

3 in 10 developers made under $13k. 5 in 10 of the 22 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 70 games are announced against 47 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Building with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + CatsFair52 devs · median $4.5k · 59 announced
  2. + TabletopFair56 devs · median $1.9k · 58 announced
  3. + Grid-Based MovementFair50 devs · median $719 · 57 announced
  4. + Interactive FictionFair17 devs · median $449 · 20 announced
  5. + Vehicular CombatPoor odds14 devs · median $303k · 40 announced
  6. + JRPGPoor odds10 devs · median $89k · 20 announced
  7. + Dating SimPoor odds28 devs · median $85k · 61 announced
  8. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds112 devs · median $71k · 251 announced
  9. + Real-TimePoor odds14 devs · median $62k · 20 announced
  10. + CrimePoor odds13 devs · median $55k · 52 announced
  11. + SailingPoor odds13 devs · median $52k · 40 announced
  12. + DiplomacyPoor odds32 devs · median $51k · 75 announced

All 210 pairs on the Building page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Project Hospital 2018 · $6.3M ReStory: Chill Electronics Repairs 2026 · $5.5M Cheap Car Repair 2026 · $2.1M Go-Go Town! 2026 · $2.1M The Ranch of Rivershine 2025 · $1.8M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Project Hospital older $24.99 8,387 89% 252k $6.3M (exactly $6,287,734) Oxymoron Games
ReStory: Chill Electronics Repairs $19.99 9,209 95% 276k $5.5M (exactly $5,522,637) Mandragora
Cheap Car Repair $19.69 3,603 91% 108k $2.1M (exactly $2,128,292) Little Dog Games
Go-Go Town! $27.99 2,476 93% 74k $2.1M (exactly $2,079,097) Prideful Sloth
The Ranch of Rivershine $29.99 2,050 94% 62k $1.8M (exactly $1,844,385) Cozy Bee Games
Tavern Manager Simulator 🍻 older $14.99 4,018 91% 121k $1.8M (exactly $1,806,895) One More Time
Alchemy Factory $17.99 2,529 87% 76k $1.4M (exactly $1,364,901) D5 Copperhead
Cat Cafe Manager older $19.99 2,174 87% 65k $1.3M (exactly $1,303,748) Roost Games
Docked $29.99 1,210 72% 36k $1.1M (exactly $1,088,637) Saber Interactive
Megastore Simulator · EA $13.99 1,968 93% 59k $826k (exactly $825,970) Yolo Games Studio
The Last Gas Station $13.99 1,250 87% 38k $525k (exactly $524,625) Alawar
Chop Chop Inc. $12.99 1,258 90% 38k $490k (exactly $490,243) NullRef Entertainment
Fuel Harvest Together $13.99 879 69% 26k $369k (exactly $368,916) Say2Sun

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.