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Should I ship a Level Editor City Builder?
City Builder + Level Editor
Of 20 developers who shipped a Level Editor City Builder 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.. 50 more are announced, ×4.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $24k, ×38 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $3.0k; 1 in 20 cleared $40M, ×64401 the market median. Revenue is up 530% on the market; 50 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $3.0k (exactly $2,997) |
|---|---|
| Median | $24k (exactly $23,676) |
| Top 25% | $116k (exactly $115,964) |
| Top 5% | $40M (exactly $40,443,891) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 20 |
| Released games | 68 |
| Announced | 50 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $14.99 |
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 up 530% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 7%, 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
- Level Editor
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- City Builder, Level Editor; all of the top 25% also carry Building, Sandbox, Simulation
- Price point
- $14.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Relaxing, Colorful
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $14.99.
The top 10 games average 94% positive over 41,495 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $3.0k. 7 in 10 of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 50 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
City Builder with a different second tag, 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
Timberborn 2026 · $40M 
Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition 2020 · $39M 
Train Simulator Classic 2015 · $18M 
Parkitect 2018 · $6.1M 
War for the Overworld 2015 · $5.8M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Timberborn | $34.99 | 38,529 95% | 1.2M | $40M (exactly $40,443,891) | Mechanistry | |
| | Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition | older | $34.99 | 37,093 84% | 1.1M | $39M (exactly $38,936,522) | World's Edge, Tantalus Media, Forgotten… (World's Edge, Tantalus Media, Forgotten Empires) |
| | Train Simulator Classic | older | $29.99 | 19,461 73% | 584k | $18M (exactly $17,509,062) | Dovetail Games |
| | Parkitect | older | $29.99 | 6,809 94% | 204k | $6.1M (exactly $6,126,057) | Texel Raptor |
| | War for the Overworld | older | $29.99 | 6,495 85% | 195k | $5.8M (exactly $5,843,552) | Brightrock Games |
 | Dungeons 4 | older | $49.99 | 2,392 86% | 72k | $3.6M (exactly $3,587,282) | Realmforge Studios |
 | Pharaoh™: A New Era | older | $22.99 | 4,811 75% | 144k | $3.3M (exactly $3,318,147) | Triskell Interactive |
 | Rise to Ruins | older | $14.99 | 7,234 87% | 217k | $3.3M (exactly $3,253,130) | Raymond Doerr |
 | Rise of Industry | older | $29.99 | 3,122 74% | 94k | $2.8M (exactly $2,808,863) | Dapper Penguin Studios |
 | Factory Town | older | $19.99 | 4,142 90% | 124k | $2.5M (exactly $2,483,957) | Erik Asmussen |
 | Citadelum | $24.99 | 1,005 83% | 30k | $753k (exactly $753,448) | Abylight Barcelona | |
 | Hometopia | $8.99 | 777 57% | 23k | $210k (exactly $209,557) | Hometopia Inc. | |
 | Overthrown | $24.99 | 255 55% | 7.7k | $191k (exactly $191,174) | Brimstone | |
 | Islands & Trains | $6.99 | 553 89% | 17k | $116k (exactly $115,964) | Akos Makovics | |
 | Outside the Blocks | $14.99 | 192 87% | 5.8k | $86k (exactly $86,342) | Michał Kubas | |
 | A-Train 9 V5.0 : Japan Train Simulator Ultimate Edition | $39.99 | 36 77% | 1.1k | $43k (exactly $43,189) | ARTDINK | |
 | Master of Realms | · EA | $39.99 | 27 81% | 810 | $32k (exactly $32,392) | TheMasterForge LLC |
 | Powerplay | · EA | $18.99 | 42 85% | 1.3k | $24k (exactly $23,927) | Frantic |
 | Qianli: The Vastscape Scroll | $9.99 | 79 86% | 2.4k | $24k (exactly $23,676) | Betobe Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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