Do I ship it?

Games › Colony Sim › Colony Sim + Capitalism

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Capitalist Colony Sim?

Colony Sim + Capitalism

Of 35 developers who shipped a Capitalist Colony Sim 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.. 63 more are announced, ×3.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $4.1k, ×6.6 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $960; 1 in 20 cleared $570k, ×916 the market median. Revenue is down 30% on the market; 63 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 6.6 times the market baseline, revenue down 30% on the market, 63 announced, ×3.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Colony Sim + Capitalism
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 35
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $36k → $657 → $12k → $14k → $17k → $2.2k → $2.5k (still earning) → $24k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Colony Sim + Capitalism: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 35
Bottom 30% $958 (exactly $958)
Median $4.1k (exactly $4,133)
Top 25% $36k (exactly $35,986)
Top 5% $575k (exactly $575,166)
Developers, 2 yr 35
Released games 68
Announced 63
Effort 6 / 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 30% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.

Free games: 12%, 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.

Colony Sim
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Capitalism
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Colony Sim; 9 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Management, Resource Management, Simulation
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $34.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Funny, Comedy
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $34.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 84% positive over 3,870 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $960, median $4.1k, 1 in 4 over $35k, 1 in 20 over $570k.

3 in 10 developers made under $960. 9 in 10 of the 17 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 63 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.5 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Colony Sim with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Female ProtagonistFair7 devs · median $4.6k · 11 announced
  2. + ArcadeLong shot13 devs · median $359 · 19 announced
  3. + 4XPoor odds23 devs · median $314k · 77 announced
  4. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds11 devs · median $170k · 25 announced
  5. + Co-opPoor odds13 devs · median $73k · 54 announced
  6. + Real-Time with PausePoor odds11 devs · median $73k · 21 announced
  7. + HistoricalPoor odds42 devs · median $59k · 75 announced
  8. + Alternate HistoryPoor odds16 devs · median $59k · 43 announced
  9. + Open WorldPoor odds78 devs · median $58k · 168 announced
  10. + Action RPGPoor odds11 devs · median $58k · 35 announced
  11. + Post-apocalypticPoor odds48 devs · median $54k · 101 announced
  12. + MarsPoor odds13 devs · median $50k · 31 announced

All 93 pairs on the Colony Sim page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Prison Architect 2015 · $54M Academia : School Simulator 2021 · $1.7M Another Brick in The Mall 2020 · $1.2M Sintopia 2026 · $998k Imagine Earth 2021 · $607k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Prison Architect older $29.99 59,802 89% 1.8M $54M (exactly $53,803,859) Introversion Software, Double Eleven
Academia : School Simulator older $19.99 2,846 85% 85k $1.7M (exactly $1,706,746) Squeaky Wheel Studio Inc
Another Brick in The Mall older $16.99 2,340 83% 70k $1.2M (exactly $1,192,698) The Quadsphere
Sintopia $34.99 951 80% 29k $998k (exactly $998,265) Piraknights Games
Imagine Earth older $24.99 810 79% 24k $607k (exactly $607,257) Serious Bros.
Ale Abbey - Monastery Brewery Tycoon $14.99 1,279 88% 38k $575k (exactly $575,166) Hammer & Ravens
SeaOrama: World of Shipping older $19.99 382 58% 11k $229k (exactly $229,085) Hidden Tower, SeaOrama
Mad Tower Tycoon older $14.99 413 77% 12k $186k (exactly $185,726) Eggcode
Factory Town Idle older $4.99 1,232 90% 37k $184k (exactly $184,430) Erik Asmussen
Hole Is Mine $7.99 741 90% 22k $178k (exactly $177,618) Incrementalist
This Grand Life 2 $17.99 307 88% 9.2k $166k (exactly $165,688) Poking Water Games
Mars Attracts · EA $24.99 209 91% 6.3k $157k (exactly $156,687) Outlier
SeaCret 1 · EA $39.99 99 61% 3.0k $119k (exactly $118,770) Dalas
Imperial Ambitions $19.99 101 81% 3.0k $61k (exactly $60,570) aoiti
Oasis Mission: Colony Sim $14.99 91 56% 2.7k $41k (exactly $40,923) Lunar pug studio
My Drug Cartel · EA $24.99 48 50% 1.4k $36k (exactly $35,986) Gigicom
Ranchbound · EA $17.99 44 50% 1.3k $24k (exactly $23,747) Eldersong Games

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