Do I ship it?

Games › City Builder › City Builder + Dystopian

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Dystopian City Builder?

City Builder + Dystopian

Only 10 developers shipped a Dystopian 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, After Inc: Revival, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 21 more are announced, ×2.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $11k, ×18 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $900; 1 in 20 cleared $790k, ×1272 the market median. Momentum is unreadable here, too few recent games; 21 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 17.5 times the market baseline, revenue too few recent games to read momentum, 21 announced, ×2.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
City Builder + Dystopian
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 10
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $12k → $716k → $989 (still earning) → $41k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for City Builder + Dystopian: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 10
Bottom 30% $899 (exactly $899)
Median $11k (exactly $11,012)
Top 25% $90k (exactly $89,670)
Top 5% $799k (exactly $798,756)
Developers, 2 yr 10
Released games 28
Announced 21
Effort 6 / 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 too few recent games to read momentum, supply 300% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 14%, 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.

City Builder
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Dystopian
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
City Builder
Price point
$7.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 10 games average 84% positive over 3,527 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $900, median $11k, 1 in 4 over $89k, 1 in 20 over $790k.

3 in 10 developers made under $900. 21 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Visual NovelStrong odds10 devs · median $19k · 8 announced
  2. + LogicFair58 devs · median $3.3k · 74 announced
  3. + IncrementalFair75 devs · median $1.3k · 96 announced
  4. + Hidden ObjectFair16 devs · median $1.3k · 20 announced
  5. + ArcadeFair28 devs · median $898 · 27 announced
  6. + RacingLong shot12 devs · median $299 · 9 announced
  7. + RomePoor odds9 devs · median $423k · 10 announced
  8. + Real-Time with PausePoor odds13 devs · median $215k · 25 announced
  9. + HorrorPoor odds10 devs · median $157k · 21 announced
  10. + Alternate HistoryPoor odds17 devs · median $146k · 50 announced
  11. + Online Co-OpPoor odds32 devs · median $118k · 55 announced
  12. + DiplomacyPoor odds26 devs · median $108k · 47 announced

All 136 pairs on the City Builder page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Infection Free Zone 2024 · EA · $12M After Inc: Revival 2026 · $799k Dystopika 2024 · $716k Homeseek 2023 · $142k Fill Up The Hole 2025 · $105k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Infection Free Zone · EA older $24.99 16,568 80% 497k $12M (exactly $12,421,030) Jutsu Games
After Inc: Revival $17.99 1,480 77% 44k $799k (exactly $798,756) Ndemic Creations
Dystopika older $6.99 3,413 95% 102k $716k (exactly $715,706) Voids Within
Homeseek older $24.99 190 62% 5.7k $142k (exactly $142,443) Traptics
Fill Up The Hole $2.99 1,165 90% 35k $105k (exactly $104,501) Fluffy Lotus
Sphere - Flying Cities older $17.99 178 44% 5.3k $96k (exactly $96,067) mañana studios
Quarantineer older $9.99 307 80% 9.2k $92k (exactly $92,008) Papaonn
Technotopia $4.99 599 86% 18k $90k (exactly $89,670) Yustas
Punk Wars older $19.99 99 55% 3.0k $59k (exactly $59,370) Strategy Forge S.A.
Skid Cities · EA older $19.99 72 62% 2.2k $43k (exactly $43,178) Vittorio Banfi
Red Rocket Defencism $7.99 172 98% 5.2k $41k (exactly $41,228) tiny cactus studio
Paperwork $3.99 92 95% 2.8k $11k (exactly $11,012) Broken Record Studio
Zombocalypse Now! $10.99 3 66% 90 $989 (exactly $989) Pixel Drip Games
Factory Train: DreamLine $9.99 3 100% 90 $899 (exactly $899) Unoptimized Bird
Commie Block $7.99 3 100% 90 $719 (exactly $719) Ape Brain Games
Time and Space Legacy $9.99 2 100% 60 $599 (exactly $599) Maxime Schadkowski
Fantasy World Simulator · EA $1.99 8 75% 240 $478 (exactly $478) North Coast Studio

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