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Should I ship a Demon City Builder?
City Builder + Demons
Only 12 developers shipped a Demon City Builder 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, Worshippers of Cthulhu, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 16 more are announced, ×2.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $13k, ×21 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $3.0k; 1 in 20 cleared $970k, ×1558 the market median. Revenue is down 90% on the market; 16 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $3.0k (exactly $2,997) |
|---|---|
| Median | $13k (exactly $13,486) |
| Top 25% | $100k (exactly $100,153) |
| Top 5% | $978k (exactly $978,358) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 12 |
| Released games | 26 |
| Announced | 16 |
| 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 90% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 4%, 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
- Demons
- 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
- Price point
- $9.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 10 games average 76% positive over 2,280 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $3.0k. 6 in 10 of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 16 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.3 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
Dungeons 4 2023 · $3.6M 
Worshippers of Cthulhu 2025 · $978k 
Night is Coming 2025 · EA · $290k 
Hell Architect 2021 · $267k 
Nadir: A Grimdark Deckbuilder 2023 · $146k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Dungeons 4 | older | $49.99 | 2,392 86% | 72k | $3.6M (exactly $3,587,282) | Realmforge Studios |
| | Worshippers of Cthulhu | $24.99 | 1,305 80% | 39k | $978k (exactly $978,358) | Crazy Goat Games | |
| | Night is Coming | · EA | $24.99 | 387 59% | 12k | $290k (exactly $290,134) | Wild Forest Studio |
| | Hell Architect | older | $24.99 | 356 65% | 11k | $267k (exactly $266,893) | Woodland Games |
| | Nadir: A Grimdark Deckbuilder | older | $19.99 | 244 61% | 7.3k | $146k (exactly $146,327) | Black Eye Games |
 | Exodus Borealis | older | $19.99 | 243 91% | 7.3k | $146k (exactly $145,727) | Smug Marmot Studios |
 | Demon Castle Story | $12.99 | 257 77% | 7.7k | $100k (exactly $100,153) | Kairosoft Co.,Ltd | |
 | ArkCraft: The Rebirth of the World | $10.99 | 181 71% | 5.4k | $60k (exactly $59,676) | ZD Yazilim | |
 | 希望之城 The City Of Hope | older | $6.99 | 126 68% | 3.8k | $26k (exactly $26,422) | 家里蹲工作室 |
 | Fortifend | $15.99 | 39 89% | 1.2k | $19k (exactly $18,708) | Side Crumb | |
 | Flocking Hell | $9.99 | 45 93% | 1.4k | $13k (exactly $13,486) | Sextant Studios | |
 | The HELL | · EA | $9.99 | 30 73% | 900 | $9.0k (exactly $8,991) | METROPOLICE |
 | Monolilith | · EA | $7.99 | 17 88% | 510 | $4.1k (exactly $4,075) | Malerouille |
 | SOUL PARK | $9.99 | 10 90% | 300 | $3.0k (exactly $2,997) | CLEDU | |
 | Hell Builder | $4.99 | 9 88% | 270 | $1.3k (exactly $1,347) | Cuddle Code |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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