Games › Loot › Loot + Capitalism
Should I ship a Capitalist Loot game?
Loot + Capitalism
Of 36 developers who shipped a Capitalist Loot 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.. 52 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $14k, ×22 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $2.4k. Revenue is up 70% on the market; 52 games are announced against 30 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $2.3k (exactly $2,336) |
|---|---|
| Median | $14k (exactly $13,772) |
| Top 25% | $86k (exactly $85,767) |
| Top 5% | $1.2M (exactly $1,242,510) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 36 |
| Released games | 61 |
| Announced | 52 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $6.49 |
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 70% on the market, supply 330% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 18%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Loot
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Capitalism
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Loot; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Economy, Idler, Management
- Price point
- $6.49 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Relaxing, 2D, Colorful
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $6.49.
The top 10 games average 86% positive over 17,930 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $2.4k. 7 in 10 of the 10 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 52 games are announced against 30 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Loot with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Artificial IntelligenceStrong odds
- + Local Co-OpStrong odds
- + SteampunkStrong odds
- + Turn-Based StrategyFair
- + JRPGFair
- + EconomyFair
- + IdlerFair
- + CatsFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + Creature CollectorFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + ArcadeFair
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Storage Hunter Simulator | $24.99 | 3,866 78% | 116k | $2.9M (exactly $2,898,340) | Raccoons Studio | |
| | Keep on Mining! | $4.99 | 8,300 93% | 249k | $1.2M (exactly $1,242,510) | EagleEye Games | |
| | Keep on Mining! - Worlds | $6.99 | 1,899 80% | 57k | $398k (exactly $398,220) | EagleEye Games | |
| | Wayblazer Dämmerung | $39.99 | 244 65% | 7.3k | $293k (exactly $292,727) | Eushully | |
| | Hole Is Mine | $7.99 | 741 90% | 22k | $178k (exactly $177,618) | Incrementalist | |
| | Coin Push RPG | $9.99 | 584 76% | 18k | $175k (exactly $175,025) | RAmen | |
| | Captain Whiskers: Incremental Seas | $5.99 | 886 85% | 27k | $159k (exactly $159,214) | Happy Universe Studios | |
| | Smash Hit Museum | $6.99 | 507 85% | 15k | $106k (exactly $106,318) | InIt Games | |
| | Agrivore: Incremental Farming | $6.99 | 494 70% | 15k | $104k (exactly $103,592) | verty | |
| | Skeleseller | $6.99 | 409 91% | 12k | $86k (exactly $85,767) | Xtonomous |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.