Do I ship it?

Games › City Builder › City Builder + Political Sim

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Political Sim City Builder?

City Builder + Political Sim

Of 29 developers who shipped a Political Sim 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.. 75 more are announced, ×5.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $3.6k, ×5.7 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $28M, ×44858 the market median. Revenue is down 30% on the market; 75 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 5.7 times the market baseline, revenue down 30% on the market, 75 announced, ×5.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
City Builder + Political Sim
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 29
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $299 → $12k → $41k → $9.4k → $1.1k → $21k (still earning) → $237 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for City Builder + Political Sim: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 29
Bottom 30% $599 (exactly $599)
Median $3.6k (exactly $3,596)
Top 25% $39k (exactly $38,567)
Top 5% $28M (exactly $28,170,938)
Developers, 2 yr 29
Released games 91
Announced 75
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $8.99

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 30% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.

Free games: 9%, 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
Political Sim
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, Political Sim; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Simulation, Building
Price point
$8.99 typical · top 25% priced $44.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $44.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.

The top 10 games average 58% positive over 69,735 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $600, median $3.6k, 1 in 4 over $38k, 1 in 20 over $28M.

3 in 10 developers made under $600. 7 in 10 of the 16 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 75 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.0 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

City Builder with a different second tag, 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

Sid Meier's Civilization VII 2025 · $94M Victoria 3 2022 · $62M Frostpunk 2 2024 · $28M Tropico 6 2019 · $24M Tropico 5 2014 · $5.9M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Sid Meier's Civilization VII $69.99 44,789 48% 1.3M $94M (exactly $94,043,463) Firaxis Games
Victoria 3 older $49.99 41,251 71% 1.2M $62M (exactly $61,864,125) Paradox Development Studio
Frostpunk 2 $44.99 20,872 74% 626k $28M (exactly $28,170,938) 11 bit studios
Tropico 6 older $39.99 19,837 88% 595k $24M (exactly $23,798,449) Limbic Entertainment, Realmforge Studios
Tropico 5 older $19.99 9,796 78% 294k $5.9M (exactly $5,874,661) Haemimont Games
Tropico 4 older $14.99 8,211 91% 246k $3.7M (exactly $3,692,487) Haemimont Games
Urban Empire older $29.99 1,903 34% 57k $1.7M (exactly $1,712,129) Reborn Games
MEMORIAPOLIS $32.00 1,752 75% 53k $1.7M (exactly $1,681,920) 5PM Studio
Anno 1404 - History Edition older $14.99 3,454 82% 104k $1.6M (exactly $1,553,264) Ubisoft Mainz
TheoTown older $9.99 4,631 94% 139k $1.4M (exactly $1,387,911) Lobby Divinus
Mandate Order · EA $19.99 1,110 81% 33k $666k (exactly $665,667) Digital Sky
Pompeii: The Legacy $19.99 266 80% 8.0k $160k (exactly $159,520) Siscia Games
Technotopia $4.99 599 86% 18k $90k (exactly $89,670) Yustas
Sengoku Voxel Castle With Zundamon · EA $12.99 106 95% 3.2k $41k (exactly $41,308) KC Project
Microlandia $8.99 143 88% 4.3k $39k (exactly $38,567) Information Superhighway Games
Epoch Cycle $8.99 79 68% 2.4k $21k (exactly $21,306) GeometricUniverse
Dissent on Mars $29.99 19 47% 570 $17k (exactly $17,094) Michael Hicks, Gonçalo Antunes

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