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Should I ship a City Builder Immersive Sim?
Immersive Sim + City Builder
Of 107 developers who shipped a City Builder Immersive Sim 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.. 190 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $6.8k, ×4.6 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.8k; 1 in 20 cleared $1.6M, ×1123 the market median. Revenue is down 20% on the market; 190 games are announced against 63 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.7k (exactly $1,704) |
|---|---|
| Median | $6.8k (exactly $6,834) |
| Top 25% | $121k (exactly $120,520) |
| Top 5% | $1.7M (exactly $1,681,920) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 107 |
| Released games | 256 |
| Announced | 190 |
| Effort | 8 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| 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 20% on the market, supply 35% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Immersive Sim
- effort 8 / 10 · low · effort 8 sits in the low band
- City Builder
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 8 / 10 · online systems, open world
- Systems
- Immersive Sim, City Builder; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Building, Management
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $32.00 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Relaxing, 3D, Realistic
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $32.00 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 79% positive over 75,557 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.8k. 7 in 10 of the 52 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 190 games are announced against 63 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Immersive Sim with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Trading Card GameStrong odds
- + MinigamesStrong odds
- + WesternStrong odds
- + BoxingStrong odds
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + Asynchronous MultiplayerFair
- + Dating SimFair
- + RomanceFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + Visual NovelFair
- + Split ScreenFair
Comparable games
inZOI 2025 · EA · $36M 
Farthest Frontier 2025 · $26M 
Infection Free Zone 2024 · EA · $12M 
Construction Simulator 2022 · $8.0M 
Railway Empire 2018 · $6.5M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | inZOI | · EA | $39.99 | 30,020 77% | 901k | $36M (exactly $36,014,994) | inZOI Studio |
| | Farthest Frontier | $34.99 | 24,444 86% | 733k | $26M (exactly $25,658,867) | Crate Entertainment | |
| | Infection Free Zone | · EA older | $24.99 | 16,568 80% | 497k | $12M (exactly $12,421,030) | Jutsu Games |
| | Construction Simulator | older | $24.99 | 10,606 82% | 318k | $8.0M (exactly $7,951,318) | weltenbauer. Software Entwicklung GmbH |
| | Railway Empire | older | $29.99 | 7,219 82% | 217k | $6.5M (exactly $6,494,934) | Gaming Minds Studios |
 | Airport CEO | older | $24.99 | 7,752 83% | 233k | $5.8M (exactly $5,811,674) | Apog Labs |
 | SimCity™ 4 Deluxe Edition | older | $19.99 | 8,495 81% | 255k | $5.1M (exactly $5,094,452) | EA - Maxis, Aspyr (Mac) |
 | The Tenants | older | $19.99 | 7,071 79% | 212k | $4.2M (exactly $4,240,479) | EndGameLoop Games |
 | Railway Empire 2 | older | $49.99 | 1,966 72% | 59k | $2.9M (exactly $2,948,410) | Gaming Minds Studios |
 | Techtonica | $29.99 | 3,076 64% | 92k | $2.8M (exactly $2,767,477) | Fire Hose Games | |
 | Surviving Mars: Relaunched | $39.99 | 2,202 55% | 66k | $2.6M (exactly $2,641,739) | Haemimont Games | |
 | Eastern Era | $24.99 | 3,028 65% | 91k | $2.3M (exactly $2,270,092) | FunYoo Games | |
 | MEMORIAPOLIS | $32.00 | 1,752 75% | 53k | $1.7M (exactly $1,681,920) | 5PM Studio | |
 | ContractVille | $9.99 | 5,593 80% | 168k | $1.7M (exactly $1,676,222) | MYM Games Studios | |
 | Mall Simulator | · EA | $13.99 | 3,139 82% | 94k | $1.3M (exactly $1,317,438) | F13 Games |
 | Laysara: Summit Kingdom | $24.99 | 1,421 80% | 43k | $1.1M (exactly $1,065,324) | Quite OK Games | |
 | Blackthorn Arena: Reforged | $24.99 | 882 66% | 26k | $661k (exactly $661,235) | PersonaeGame Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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