Do I ship it?

GamesBuildingBuilding + Mechs

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Mech Building game?

Building + Mechs

Only 17 developers shipped a Mech 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, Pax Autocratica, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 32 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $6.0k, ×9.6 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $990; 1 in 20 cleared $2.8M, ×4587 the market median. Revenue is down 20% on the market; 32 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 9.6 times the market baseline, revenue down 20% on the market, 32 announced, ×2.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Building + Mechs
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 17
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $235k → $28k → $3.6k → $35k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Building + Mechs: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 17
Bottom 30% $989 (exactly $989)
Median $6.0k (exactly $5,998)
Top 25% $33k (exactly $32,526)
Top 5% $2.9M (exactly $2,880,839)
Developers, 2 yr 17
Released games 42
Announced 32
Effort 6 / 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 down 20% on the market, supply 225% 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
Mechs
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Building; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Character Customization, Crafting
Price point
$11.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Relaxing
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $11.99.

The top 10 games average 91% positive over 3,825 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $990, median $6.0k, 1 in 4 over $32k, 1 in 20 over $2.8M.

3 in 10 developers made under $990. 32 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Building with a different setting or mood, 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

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Planetary Annihilation: TITANS older $29.99 11,401 84% 342k $10M (exactly $10,257,480) Planetary Annihilation Inc
Airships: Conquer the Skies older $24.99 6,197 95% 186k $4.6M (exactly $4,645,891) David Stark
CryoFall older $19.99 4,905 78% 147k $2.9M (exactly $2,941,528) AtomicTorch Studio
Pax Autocratica · EA $29.99 3,202 91% 96k $2.9M (exactly $2,880,839) Multiverse
Last Call BBS older $19.99 1,220 94% 37k $732k (exactly $731,634) Zachtronics
Model Builder: Complete Edition older $19.99 1,058 74% 32k $634k (exactly $634,483) Moonlit S.A.
Mech Engineer older $14.99 928 74% 28k $417k (exactly $417,322) KiberKreker
Mech Mechanic Simulator older $19.99 538 61% 16k $323k (exactly $322,639) Polyslash
ACTION SANDBOX older $9.99 787 73% 24k $236k (exactly $235,864) Vona Soft
First Dwarf · EA older $24.99 314 76% 9.4k $235k (exactly $235,406) Star Drifters
Age Of Warbots $9.99 160 83% 4.8k $48k (exactly $47,952) VDimension
Animalkind · EA $19.99 68 91% 2.0k $41k (exactly $40,780) Uncommon Games
Mech Builder 3D $14.99 77 93% 2.3k $35k (exactly $34,627) Don Pachi
ShellMobile: Titan Rampart $5.99 181 97% 5.4k $33k (exactly $32,526) 红景天娱乐
IRON GUARD: Salvation $17.99 44 93% 1.3k $24k (exactly $23,747) Xlab Digital
WarOS · EA $19.99 29 72% 870 $17k (exactly $17,391) The7 Studio
Echoes of the Architects $9.99 46 80% 1.4k $14k (exactly $13,786) GFX47
Wings of Aviora · EA $24.99 8 87% 240 $6.0k (exactly $5,998) Stormy XP
Citadel Anew $11.99 10 50% 300 $3.6k (exactly $3,597) Radical Byte

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