Games › Building › Building + Walking Simulator
Should I ship a Building Walking Simulator?
Building + Walking Simulator
Of 34 developers who shipped a Building Walking Simulator 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.. 52 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.2k, ×1.9 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $260k, ×415 the market median. Revenue is down 10% on the market; 52 games are announced against 19 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $299 (exactly $299) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.2k (exactly $1,198) |
| Top 25% | $11k (exactly $10,788) |
| Top 5% | $260k (exactly $260,439) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 34 |
| Released games | 90 |
| Announced | 52 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $5.99 |
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 10% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 13%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Walking Simulator
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Building, Walking Simulator; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Exploration, Sandbox
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 7 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person, Realistic
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 70% positive over 8,619 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 8 in 10 of the 17 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 52 games are announced against 19 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Building with a different second tag, 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
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | LEGO® Worlds | older | $29.99 | 12,487 77% | 375k | $11M (exactly $11,234,554) | TT Games, Traveller's Tales |
| | Tank Mechanic Simulator | older | $19.99 | 8,792 87% | 264k | $5.3M (exactly $5,272,562) | DeGenerals S.A. |
| | Longvinter | $19.99 | 6,951 68% | 209k | $4.2M (exactly $4,168,515) | Uuvana Studios | |
| | King of Retail | older | $25.99 | 2,982 88% | 89k | $2.3M (exactly $2,325,065) | Freaking Games |
| | Train Sim World® 2020 | older | $12.99 | 5,912 77% | 177k | $2.3M (exactly $2,303,906) | Dovetail Games |
| | Junkyard Simulator | · EA older | $19.99 | 2,182 64% | 65k | $1.3M (exactly $1,308,545) | Rebelia Games |
| | ZED ZONE | · EA older | $11.99 | 3,506 81% | 105k | $1.3M (exactly $1,261,108) | Leven Liu |
| | Plane Mechanic Simulator | older | $11.99 | 1,561 56% | 47k | $561k (exactly $561,492) | Cobble Games, Disaster Studio |
| | Dinosaur Fossil Hunter | older | $19.99 | 820 77% | 25k | $492k (exactly $491,754) | ▲ Pyramid Games |
| | BULT: Hunting simulator | · EA | $9.99 | 869 87% | 26k | $260k (exactly $260,439) | Nordrise |
| | Project: Mist | · EA | $17.99 | 257 72% | 7.7k | $139k (exactly $138,703) | Chicken Launcher |
| | Road Maintenance Simulator 2 - Winter Services | $24.99 | 117 49% | 3.5k | $88k (exactly $87,715) | Caipirinha Games | |
| | LIMSCAPE : THE LIMINAL SPACE EXPLORER | $9.99 | 163 87% | 4.9k | $49k (exactly $48,851) | SMOOTHEA | |
| | Sports: Renovations | $24.99 | 53 58% | 1.6k | $40k (exactly $39,734) | Goat Gamez | |
| | Biztopia | · EA | $7.99 | 105 68% | 3.2k | $25k (exactly $25,168) | Lymo Games |
| | Ember's Verge | $14.99 | 51 88% | 1.5k | $23k (exactly $22,935) | Feralless Games | |
| | Record Shop Simulator | $8.99 | 40 70% | 1.2k | $11k (exactly $10,788) | Octane Owl | |
| | Forest Construction VR | $14.99 | 13 92% | 390 | $5.8k (exactly $5,846) | RedLightsStudio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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