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Should I ship a Robot Building game?
Building + Robots
Of 62 developers who shipped a Robot Building 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.. 135 more are announced, ×4.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.9k, ×4.7 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $420k, ×674 the market median. Revenue is down 40% on the market; 135 games are announced against 34 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $599 (exactly $599) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.9k (exactly $2,936) |
| Top 25% | $23k (exactly $23,079) |
| Top 5% | $423k (exactly $423,388) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 62 |
| Released games | 190 |
| Announced | 135 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 40% on the market, supply 20% 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.
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Building; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Sandbox, Strategy, Resource Management
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 91% positive over 7,410 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $600. 7 in 10 of the 31 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 135 games are announced against 34 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.0 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
- + CrimePoor odds
- + SailingPoor odds
Comparable games
TerraTech 2018 · $15M 
Planetary Annihilation: TITANS 2015 · $10M 
Starbase 2021 · EA · $6.5M 
Per Aspera 2020 · $3.7M 
FOUNDRY 2024 · EA · $2.9M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | TerraTech | older | $24.99 | 20,564 92% | 617k | $15M (exactly $15,416,831) | Payload Studios |
| | Planetary Annihilation: TITANS | older | $29.99 | 11,401 84% | 342k | $10M (exactly $10,257,480) | Planetary Annihilation Inc |
| | Starbase | · EA older | $34.99 | 6,217 56% | 187k | $6.5M (exactly $6,525,985) | Frozenbyte |
| | Per Aspera | older | $29.99 | 4,105 76% | 123k | $3.7M (exactly $3,693,268) | Tlön Industries |
| | FOUNDRY | · EA older | $29.99 | 3,272 82% | 98k | $2.9M (exactly $2,943,818) | Channel 3 Entertainment |
 | Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation | older | $29.99 | 2,704 76% | 81k | $2.4M (exactly $2,432,789) | Stardock Entertainment, Oxide Games |
 | Automation Empire | older | $29.99 | 2,584 65% | 78k | $2.3M (exactly $2,324,825) | DOG HOGGLER |
 | Autonauts | older | $19.99 | 3,596 90% | 108k | $2.2M (exactly $2,156,521) | Denki |
 | Mars First Logistics | $19.99 | 3,497 94% | 105k | $2.1M (exactly $2,097,151) | Shape Shop | |
 | Nova Lands | older | $19.99 | 2,512 90% | 75k | $1.5M (exactly $1,506,446) | BEHEMUTT |
 | Microtopia | $19.99 | 881 87% | 26k | $528k (exactly $528,336) | Cordyceps Collective | |
 | Blossom: The Seed of Life | $16.99 | 1,011 88% | 30k | $515k (exactly $515,307) | Pebbledust Games | |
 | Axon TD: Uprising - Tower Defense | $19.99 | 706 85% | 21k | $423k (exactly $423,388) | Element Studios | |
 | Annihilate The Spance | · EA | $29.99 | 347 90% | 10k | $312k (exactly $312,196) | Skyglow Softworks |
 | World End Diner | $16.99 | 415 93% | 12k | $212k (exactly $211,525) | Andymente | |
 | Tech Blast | $39.99 | 90 92% | 2.7k | $108k (exactly $107,973) | Galactic Geckon | |
 | Mineral Defense | $14.99 | 220 90% | 6.6k | $99k (exactly $98,934) | Corestone Games | |
 | Sky End Market | · EA | $18.99 | 164 96% | 4.9k | $93k (exactly $93,431) | Andymente |
 | Icaria | $24.99 | 79 75% | 2.4k | $59k (exactly $59,226) | Blindsight Games LLC |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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