Do I ship it?

GamesDestructionDestruction + Capitalism

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Capitalist Destruction game?

Destruction + Capitalism

Only 17 developers shipped a Capitalist Destruction 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, Bills Must Be Paid, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 46 more are announced, ×3.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $15k, ×24 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $840; 1 in 20 cleared $2.0M, ×3315 the market median. Revenue is up 26430% on the market; 46 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 23.9 times the market baseline, revenue up 26430% on the market, 46 announced, ×3.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Destruction + Capitalism
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 17
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.4k → $17k → $100k (still earning) → $424k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Destruction + Capitalism: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 17
Bottom 30% $839 (exactly $839)
Median $15k (exactly $14,985)
Top 25% $106k (exactly $106,318)
Top 5% $2.1M (exactly $2,081,902)
Developers, 2 yr 17
Released games 44
Announced 46
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 up 26430% on the market, supply 365% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 27%, 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.

Destruction
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
Destruction; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Shooter, Action-Adventure
Price point
$8.99 typical · top 25% priced $27.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Realistic
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $27.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.

The top 10 games average 90% positive over 13,954 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $840, median $15k, 1 in 4 over $100k, 1 in 20 over $2.0M.

3 in 10 developers made under $840. All of the 5 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 46 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.3 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Space SimFair14 devs · median $3.7k · 22 announced
  2. + ModernFair26 devs · median $1.6k · 28 announced
  3. + God GameFair19 devs · median $899 · 20 announced
  4. + Hidden ObjectFair9 devs · median $719 · 14 announced
  5. + Hack and SlashPoor odds19 devs · median $43k · 57 announced
  6. + HistoricalPoor odds15 devs · median $26k · 22 announced
  7. + Online Co-OpPoor odds37 devs · median $13k · 102 announced
  8. + Co-opPoor odds50 devs · median $11k · 113 announced
  9. + Automobile SimPoor odds22 devs · median $9.0k · 44 announced
  10. + ManagementPoor odds36 devs · median $6.1k · 129 announced
  11. + AutomationPoor odds22 devs · median $6.0k · 46 announced
  12. + CraftingPoor odds36 devs · median $4.9k · 101 announced

All 139 pairs on the Destruction page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Tropico 6 older $39.99 19,837 88% 595k $24M (exactly $23,798,449) Limbic Entertainment, Realmforge Studios
Brigador: Up-Armored Edition older $24.99 4,580 93% 137k $3.4M (exactly $3,433,626) Stellar Jockeys, Gausswerks
Bills Must Be Paid $6.99 9,928 96% 298k $2.1M (exactly $2,081,902) Rike Games
Forefront $27.99 1,913 84% 57k $1.6M (exactly $1,606,346) Triangle Factory
Brigador Killers · EA $24.99 572 69% 17k $429k (exactly $428,828) Stellar Jockeys, Gausswerks
BLACKWOOD $24.99 565 46% 17k $424k (exactly $423,580) AttritoM7 Productions
Smash Hit Museum $6.99 507 85% 15k $106k (exactly $106,318) InIt Games
Junkyard Builder $14.99 223 70% 6.7k $100k (exactly $100,283) FreeMind S.A.
Gym Manager older $9.99 306 80% 9.2k $92k (exactly $91,708) Han GAMES
Get Packed: Fully Loaded older $19.99 68 45% 2.0k $41k (exactly $40,780) Moonshine Studios
Deep Space Exploitation $8.99 131 96% 3.9k $35k (exactly $35,331) JuhrJuhr
Disaster Arms - Impact Project B.A.H.N. $9.99 57 100% 1.7k $17k (exactly $17,083) PD_CGT
Drywall Eating Simulator $9.99 50 76% 1.5k $15k (exactly $14,985) Peripheral Playbox
Lobsterpunk $9.99 8 100% 240 $2.4k (exactly $2,398) Carter Diaz de Leon

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