Games › Simulation › Simulation + Capitalism
Should I ship a Capitalist Simulation game?
Simulation + Capitalism
Of 654 developers who shipped a Capitalist Simulation 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.. 993 more are announced, ×2.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $3.6k, ×5.7 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $720; 1 in 20 cleared $480k, ×768 the market median. Revenue is down 30% on the market; 993 games are announced against 455 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $719 (exactly $719) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.6k (exactly $3,596) |
| Top 25% | $32k (exactly $32,202) |
| Top 5% | $482k (exactly $482,483) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 654 |
| Released games | 1,245 |
| Announced | 993 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 105% 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.
- Simulation
- 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
- Simulation; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Management, Economy, Resource Management
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Relaxing, 3D, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 92% positive over 198,321 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $720. 7 in 10 of the 279 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 993 games are announced against 455 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Simulation with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Escape RoomStrong odds
- + World War IFair
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + PinballFair
- + Female ProtagonistFair
- + BirdsFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + MusicFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + ProgrammingFair
Comparable games
Victoria 3 2022 · $62M 
Prison Architect 2015 · $54M 
Supermarket Simulator 2025 · $48M 
TCG Card Shop Simulator 2026 · $28M 
Tropico 6 2019 · $24M | 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 |
| | Supermarket Simulator | $19.99 | 79,236 92% | 2.4M | $48M (exactly $47,517,829) | Nokta Games | |
| | TCG Card Shop Simulator | $19.99 | 47,357 96% | 1.4M | $28M (exactly $28,399,993) | OPNeon Games | |
| | Tropico 6 | older | $39.99 | 19,837 88% | 595k | $24M (exactly $23,798,449) | Limbic Entertainment, Realmforge Studios |
 | Potion Craft: Alchemist Simulator | older | $19.99 | 37,870 92% | 1.1M | $23M (exactly $22,710,639) | niceplay games |
 | Le Mans Ultimate | $39.99 | 15,068 79% | 452k | $18M (exactly $18,077,080) | Studio 397 | |
 | Cruelty Squad | older | $19.99 | 23,209 96% | 696k | $14M (exactly $13,918,437) | Consumer Softproducts |
 | Big Ambitions | $25.99 | 14,003 92% | 420k | $11M (exactly $10,918,139) | Hovgaard Games | |
 | Eco | · EA older | $29.99 | 11,375 80% | 341k | $10M (exactly $10,234,088) | Strange Loop Games |
 | Waterpark Simulator | $12.99 | 13,280 96% | 398k | $5.2M (exactly $5,175,216) | CayPlay | |
 | News Tower | $24.99 | 4,316 94% | 129k | $3.2M (exactly $3,235,705) | Sparrow Night | |
 | Scritchy Scratchy | $6.99 | 15,245 94% | 457k | $3.2M (exactly $3,196,876) | Lunch Money Games | |
 | Storage Hunter Simulator | $24.99 | 3,866 78% | 116k | $2.9M (exactly $2,898,340) | Raccoons Studio | |
 | Psycho Patrol R | · EA | $39.99 | 2,090 88% | 63k | $2.5M (exactly $2,507,373) | Consumer Softproducts |
 | Esports Manager 2026 | $19.99 | 3,860 73% | 116k | $2.3M (exactly $2,314,842) | Neurona Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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