Do I ship it?

GamesBuildingBuilding + Rome

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Roman Building game?

Building + Rome

Only 6 developers shipped a Roman 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, Anno 117: Pax Romana, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 12 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 5 / 10 build.

Only 4 developers shipped this in the last year, under the 5 a verdict needs; over 2 years the middle one made $560k against a market of $630. 12 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 885.8 times the market baseline, revenue too few recent games to read momentum, 12 announced, ×3.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Building + Rome
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 6

not enough cohorts to draw

Outcomes for Building + Rome: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 6
Bottom 30% $17k (exactly $16,790)
Median $556k (exactly $556,277)
Top 25% $753k (exactly $753,448)
Top 5% $22M (exactly $21,866,355)
Developers, 2 yr 6
Released games 31
Announced 12
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $24.99

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 too few recent games to read momentum, supply 100% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 19%, 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
Rome
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
Price point
$24.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

Fewer than 10 games in the last 2 years; sentiment and price figures use the all window.

The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $12.99.

The top 10 games average 71% positive over 15,937 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $17k, median $560k, 1 in 4 over $750k, 1 in 20 over $21M.

3 in 10 developers made under $17k. 12 games are announced against 4 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 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
Anno 117: Pax Romana $59.99 12,150 69% 365k $22M (exactly $21,866,355) Ubisoft Mainz
Citadelum $24.99 1,005 83% 30k $753k (exactly $753,448) Abylight Barcelona
Roman Triumph: Survival City Builder $24.99 742 83% 22k $556k (exactly $556,277) Coreffect Interactive
Ancient Wars: Sparta Definitive Edition · EA older $19.99 453 74% 14k $272k (exactly $271,664) JOTASOFT STUDIOS
Aggressors: Ancient Rome older $29.99 222 79% 6.7k $200k (exactly $199,733) Kubat Software
Grand Ages: Rome older $9.99 618 76% 19k $185k (exactly $185,215) Haemimont Games
Summa Expeditionis $19.99 305 68% 9.2k $183k (exactly $182,908) Lobico Games
Concordia: Digital Edition older $19.99 167 83% 5.0k $100k (exactly $100,150) Acram Digital
Empire Architect older $14.99 151 64% 4.5k $68k (exactly $67,905) Batholith Entertainment
Legion Gold older $9.99 124 83% 3.7k $37k (exactly $37,163) Slitherine Ltd.
Explorers of Esmar · EA $15.99 35 85% 1.1k $17k (exactly $16,790) Tipri Games
Nova Patria $11.99 22 100% 660 $7.9k (exactly $7,913) Sower Interactive

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