Games › City Builder › City Builder + Capitalism
Should I ship a Capitalist City Builder?
City Builder + Capitalism
Of 72 developers who shipped a Capitalist City Builder 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.. 113 more are announced, ×2.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $7.7k, ×12 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $900; 1 in 20 cleared $490k, ×781 the market median. Revenue is down 30% on the market; 113 games are announced against 39 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $898 (exactly $898) |
|---|---|
| Median | $7.7k (exactly $7,727) |
| Top 25% | $50k (exactly $49,750) |
| Top 5% | $490k (exactly $490,336) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 72 |
| Released games | 167 |
| Announced | 113 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $8.99 |
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 30% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 11%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- City Builder
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Capitalism
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- City Builder; 9 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Economy, Management, Simulation
- Price point
- $8.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Relaxing, 3D, Top-Down
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.
The top 10 games average 78% positive over 8,854 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $900. 7 in 10 of the 39 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 113 games are announced against 39 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
City Builder with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Visual NovelStrong odds
- + LogicFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + Hidden ObjectFair
- + ArcadeFair
- + RacingLong shot
- + RomePoor odds
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
- + HorrorPoor odds
- + Alternate HistoryPoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
- + DiplomacyPoor odds
Comparable games
Victoria 3 2022 · $62M 
Prison Architect 2015 · $54M 
Tropico 6 2019 · $24M 
Parkitect 2018 · $6.1M 
Airport CEO 2021 · $5.8M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Victoria 3 | older | $49.99 | 41,251 71% | 1.2M | $62M (exactly $61,864,125) | Paradox Development Studio |
| | Prison Architect | older | $29.99 | 59,802 89% | 1.8M | $54M (exactly $53,803,859) | Introversion Software, Double Eleven |
| | Tropico 6 | older | $39.99 | 19,837 88% | 595k | $24M (exactly $23,798,449) | Limbic Entertainment, Realmforge Studios |
| | Parkitect | older | $29.99 | 6,809 94% | 204k | $6.1M (exactly $6,126,057) | Texel Raptor |
| | Airport CEO | older | $24.99 | 7,752 83% | 233k | $5.8M (exactly $5,811,674) | Apog Labs |
 | Mad Games Tycoon 2 | older | $24.99 | 7,355 93% | 221k | $5.5M (exactly $5,514,044) | Eggcode |
 | Tropico 4 | older | $14.99 | 8,211 91% | 246k | $3.7M (exactly $3,692,487) | Haemimont Games |
 | Rise of Industry | older | $29.99 | 3,122 74% | 94k | $2.8M (exactly $2,808,863) | Dapper Penguin Studios |
 | Hotel Architect | $29.99 | 1,934 94% | 58k | $1.7M (exactly $1,740,020) | Pathos Interactive | |
 | Academia : School Simulator | older | $19.99 | 2,846 85% | 85k | $1.7M (exactly $1,706,746) | Squeaky Wheel Studio Inc |
 | Mall Simulator | · EA | $13.99 | 3,139 82% | 94k | $1.3M (exactly $1,317,438) | F13 Games |
 | Sintopia | $34.99 | 951 80% | 29k | $998k (exactly $998,265) | Piraknights Games | |
 | Movies Tycoon | $29.99 | 545 70% | 16k | $490k (exactly $490,336) | PixelCraze s.r.o. | |
 | Industry Giant 4.0 | $24.99 | 506 33% | 15k | $379k (exactly $379,348) | Don VS Dodo | |
 | Farm Manager World | $19.99 | 605 68% | 18k | $363k (exactly $362,818) | Cleversan Games | |
 | Hotel Magnate | $19.99 | 419 58% | 13k | $251k (exactly $251,274) | Arcade Oven | |
 | Aquapark Tycoon | · EA | $22.99 | 278 89% | 8.3k | $192k (exactly $191,737) | Boxelware |
 | Super Movie Tycoon | $16.99 | 323 73% | 9.7k | $165k (exactly $164,633) | Yuedong Game | |
 | Rise of Industry 2 | $34.99 | 154 55% | 4.6k | $162k (exactly $161,654) | SomaSim |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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