Games › Sports › Sports + Building
Should I ship a Building Sports game?
Sports + Building
Of 21 developers who shipped a Building Sports 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.. 31 more are announced, ×2.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $4.9k, ×7.9 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $260k, ×415 the market median. Revenue is down 95% on the market; 31 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $449 (exactly $449) |
|---|---|
| Median | $4.9k (exactly $4,947) |
| Top 25% | $58k (exactly $58,487) |
| Top 5% | $260k (exactly $260,439) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 21 |
| Released games | 92 |
| Announced | 31 |
| Effort | 6 / 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 95% on the market, supply 150% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 12%, 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
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Sports, Building; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Immersive Sim, Sandbox
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Realistic, 3D, Relaxing
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 78% positive over 2,527 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $450. 8 in 10 of the 8 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 31 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Sports with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Dynamic NarrationStrong odds
- + CraftingFair
- + Strategy RPGFair
- + SandboxFair
- + Split ScreenFair
- + Dating SimFair
- + Visual NovelFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + FMVFair
- + BikesFair
- + Immersive SimFair
- + Choices MatterFair
Comparable games
DRIFT CE 2021 · $1.6M 
Nimbatus - The Space Drone Constructor 2020 · $1.1M 
Gym Simulator 24 2024 · $986k 
Zeepkist 2021 · EA · $933k 
WE ARE FOOTBALL 2024 2024 · $901k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | DRIFT CE | older | $29.99 | 1,830 73% | 55k | $1.6M (exactly $1,646,451) | ECC GAMES |
| | Nimbatus - The Space Drone Constructor | older | $19.99 | 1,758 78% | 53k | $1.1M (exactly $1,054,273) | Stray Fawn Studio |
| | Gym Simulator 24 | older | $12.99 | 2,531 84% | 76k | $986k (exactly $986,331) | Red Axe Games |
| | Zeepkist | · EA older | $19.99 | 1,555 97% | 47k | $933k (exactly $932,533) | Steelpan Interactive |
| | WE ARE FOOTBALL 2024 | older | $39.99 | 751 79% | 23k | $901k (exactly $900,975) | Winning Streak Games GmbH |
 | Esports Life Tycoon | older | $19.99 | 605 61% | 18k | $363k (exactly $362,818) | UPLAY Online |
 | Underground Garage | $14.99 | 646 63% | 19k | $291k (exactly $290,506) | BeardedBrothers.games | |
 | BULT: Hunting simulator | · EA | $9.99 | 869 87% | 26k | $260k (exactly $260,439) | Nordrise |
 | When Ski Lifts Go Wrong | older | $14.99 | 519 87% | 16k | $233k (exactly $233,394) | Hugecalf Studios |
 | Copa City: Matchday Manager | $24.99 | 247 72% | 7.4k | $185k (exactly $185,176) | Triple Espresso S.A. | |
 | Rally Mechanic Simulator | $17.99 | 195 69% | 5.9k | $105k (exactly $105,241) | Play2Chill S.A., Atomic Jelly | |
 | Under Par Golf Architect | $19.99 | 158 81% | 4.7k | $95k (exactly $94,753) | Broken Arms Games | |
 | Puttler | $7.99 | 244 95% | 7.3k | $58k (exactly $58,487) | Bean Juice Studios | |
 | Sports: Renovations | $24.99 | 53 58% | 1.6k | $40k (exactly $39,734) | Goat Gamez | |
 | Octohill Ski Tycoon | $8.99 | 41 85% | 1.2k | $11k (exactly $11,058) | DeuxBaguettes | |
 | Surf Sandbox | $4.99 | 40 95% | 1.2k | $6.0k (exactly $5,988) | nocanwin | |
 | Jumbo Scooter | $5.00 | 34 85% | 1.0k | $5.1k (exactly $5,100) | BepeDev |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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