Do I ship it?

Games › City Builder › City Builder + Modern

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Modern-Day City Builder?

City Builder + Modern

Of 34 developers who shipped a Modern-Day 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.. 32 more are announced, ×2.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $5.4k, ×8.6 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.1k; 1 in 20 cleared $1.6M, ×2669 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 32 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 8.6 times the market baseline, revenue flat on the market, 32 announced, ×2.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
City Builder + Modern
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 34
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $17k → $147k → $599 → $5.4k → $26k → $11k → $3.0k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for City Builder + Modern: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 34
Bottom 30% $1.1k (exactly $1,079)
Median $5.4k (exactly $5,395)
Top 25% $33k (exactly $33,289)
Top 5% $1.7M (exactly $1,676,222)
Developers, 2 yr 34
Released games 88
Announced 32
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 flat on the market, supply 20% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 5%, 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
Modern
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; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Building, Simulation, Economy
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Relaxing, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 77% positive over 37,870 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $1.1k, median $5.4k, 1 in 4 over $33k, 1 in 20 over $1.6M.

3 in 10 developers made under $1.1k. 8 in 10 of the 19 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 32 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 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

Cities: Skylines 2015 · $198M inZOI 2025 · EA · $36M ContractVille 2025 · $1.7M InfraSpace 2023 · $1.2M Highrise City 2023 · $1.1M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Cities: Skylines older $29.99 220,465 92% 6.6M $198M (exactly $198,352,360) Colossal Order
inZOI · EA $39.99 30,020 77% 901k $36M (exactly $36,014,994) inZOI Studio
ContractVille $9.99 5,593 80% 168k $1.7M (exactly $1,676,222) MYM Games Studios
InfraSpace older $24.99 1,638 82% 49k $1.2M (exactly $1,228,009) Dionic Software
Highrise City older $29.99 1,240 77% 37k $1.1M (exactly $1,115,628) Fourexo Entertainment
Urbek City Builder older $18.99 1,830 89% 55k $1.0M (exactly $1,042,551) Fridus
Citystate II older $24.99 1,098 73% 33k $823k (exactly $823,171) Andy Sztark
Industry Giant 4.0 $24.99 506 33% 15k $379k (exactly $379,348) Don VS Dodo
Citystate older $14.99 793 75% 24k $357k (exactly $356,612) Andy Sztark
Power to the People older $14.99 472 79% 14k $212k (exactly $212,258) Rhombico Games
Hometopia $8.99 777 57% 23k $210k (exactly $209,557) Hometopia Inc.
ShantyTown $14.99 415 98% 12k $187k (exactly $186,626) Erik Rempen
Entertainment Simulator $18.99 181 73% 5.4k $103k (exactly $103,116) Grizzbera Studio
Check Inn $14.99 197 84% 5.9k $89k (exactly $88,591) KishMish Games
Terminal One $19.99 96 66% 2.9k $58k (exactly $57,571) Terminal Reality
Tattoo Tycoon $29.99 37 62% 1.1k $33k (exactly $33,289) CrazyBunch
回到2001买房子 $19.99 48 72% 1.4k $29k (exactly $28,786) 新起点制作组

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