Do I ship it?

Games › Building › Building + Level Editor

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Building Level Editor game?

Building + Level Editor

Of 97 developers who shipped a Building Level Editor 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.. 182 more are announced, ×3.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $2.7k, ×4.3 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $420; 1 in 20 cleared $430k, ×688 the market median. Revenue is down 30% on the market; 182 games are announced against 57 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 4.3 times the market baseline, revenue down 30% on the market, 182 announced, ×3.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Building + Level Editor
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 97
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $24k → $6.7k → $1.8k → $1.6k → $18k → $2.7k → $2.9k (still earning) → $240 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Building + Level Editor: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 97
Bottom 30% $419 (exactly $419)
Median $2.7k (exactly $2,695)
Top 25% $24k (exactly $23,927)
Top 5% $432k (exactly $431,892)
Developers, 2 yr 97
Released games 321
Announced 182
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 30% on the market, supply 45% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 16%, 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
Level Editor
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 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, Level Editor; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Sandbox, Simulation, City Builder
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Relaxing
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 87% positive over 65,725 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $420, median $2.7k, 1 in 4 over $23k, 1 in 20 over $430k.

3 in 10 developers made under $420. 7 in 10 of the 47 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 182 games are announced against 57 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.2 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Job SimulatorStrong odds66 devs · median $28k · 70 announced
  2. + CatsFair52 devs · median $4.5k · 59 announced
  3. + TabletopFair56 devs · median $1.9k · 58 announced
  4. + Grid-Based MovementFair50 devs · median $719 · 57 announced
  5. + Interactive FictionFair17 devs · median $449 · 20 announced
  6. + Vehicular CombatPoor odds14 devs · median $303k · 40 announced
  7. + JRPGPoor odds10 devs · median $89k · 20 announced
  8. + Dating SimPoor odds28 devs · median $85k · 61 announced
  9. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds112 devs · median $71k · 251 announced
  10. + Real-TimePoor odds14 devs · median $62k · 20 announced
  11. + CrimePoor odds13 devs · median $55k · 52 announced
  12. + SailingPoor odds13 devs · median $52k · 40 announced

All 210 pairs on the Building page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Timberborn 2026 · $40M Besiege 2020 · $22M Train Simulator Classic 2015 · $18M Forts 2017 · $9.5M Mindustry 2019 · $7.4M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Timberborn $34.99 38,529 95% 1.2M $40M (exactly $40,443,891) Mechanistry
Besiege older $14.99 48,045 95% 1.4M $22M (exactly $21,605,836) Spiderling Studios
Train Simulator Classic older $29.99 19,461 73% 584k $18M (exactly $17,509,062) Dovetail Games
Forts older $14.99 21,216 92% 636k $9.5M (exactly $9,540,835) EarthWork Games
Mindustry older $9.99 24,608 95% 738k $7.4M (exactly $7,375,018) AnukenDev
Parkitect older $29.99 6,809 94% 204k $6.1M (exactly $6,126,057) Texel Raptor
Age of History 3 $9.99 18,102 85% 543k $5.4M (exactly $5,425,169) Łukasz Jakowski
Poly Bridge older $9.99 17,107 91% 513k $5.1M (exactly $5,126,968) Dry Cactus
Poly Bridge 2 older $14.99 7,875 95% 236k $3.5M (exactly $3,541,388) Dry Cactus
Creeper World 4 older $24.99 4,553 94% 137k $3.4M (exactly $3,413,384) Knuckle Cracker
s&box $9.99 5,118 46% 154k $1.5M (exactly $1,533,865) Facepunch Studios
Citadelum $24.99 1,005 83% 30k $753k (exactly $753,448) Abylight Barcelona
Wreckreation $39.99 360 63% 11k $432k (exactly $431,892) Three Fields Entertainment
Dungeon Warfare 3 $18.99 679 78% 20k $387k (exactly $386,826) Excidium Inc., Valsar
Annihilate The Spance · EA $29.99 347 90% 10k $312k (exactly $312,196) Skyglow Softworks
Hometopia $8.99 777 57% 23k $210k (exactly $209,557) Hometopia Inc.
Overthrown $24.99 255 55% 7.7k $191k (exactly $191,174) Brimstone
Islands & Trains $6.99 553 89% 17k $116k (exactly $115,964) Akos Makovics

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