Games › City Builder › City Builder + Procedural Generation
Should I ship a Procedural Generation City Builder?
City Builder + Procedural Generation
Of 115 developers who shipped a Procedural Generation 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.. 214 more are announced, ×3.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $9.4k, ×15 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.5k; 1 in 20 cleared $1.6M, ×2675 the market median. Revenue is up 90% on the market; 214 games are announced against 58 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.5k (exactly $1,497) |
|---|---|
| Median | $9.4k (exactly $9,444) |
| Top 25% | $86k (exactly $86,342) |
| Top 5% | $1.7M (exactly $1,679,740) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 115 |
| Released games | 266 |
| Announced | 214 |
| 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 up 90% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 6%, 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
- Procedural Generation
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- City Builder, Procedural Generation; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Base Building, Building
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 84% positive over 36,530 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.5k. 7 in 10 of the 58 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 214 games are announced against 58 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.7 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
RimWorld 2018 · $219M 
Transport Fever 2 2019 · $32M 
Dwarf Fortress 2022 · $26M 
Banished 2014 · $23M 
Going Medieval 2026 · $15M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | RimWorld | older | $34.99 | 208,693 97% | 6.3M | $219M (exactly $219,065,042) | Ludeon Studios |
| | Transport Fever 2 | older | $39.99 | 26,714 89% | 801k | $32M (exactly $32,048,786) | Urban Games |
| | Dwarf Fortress | older | $29.99 | 29,303 94% | 879k | $26M (exactly $26,363,909) | Bay 12 Games |
| | Banished | older | $19.99 | 37,895 90% | 1.1M | $23M (exactly $22,725,632) | Shining Rock Software LLC |
| | Going Medieval | $29.99 | 17,032 88% | 511k | $15M (exactly $15,323,690) | Foxy Voxel | |
 | Dorfromantik | older | $13.99 | 27,441 96% | 823k | $12M (exactly $11,516,988) | Toukana Interactive |
 | Transport Fever | older | $29.99 | 9,278 82% | 278k | $8.3M (exactly $8,347,417) | Urban Games |
 | The Universim | older | $29.99 | 8,465 79% | 254k | $7.6M (exactly $7,615,960) | Crytivo |
 | Endzone - A World Apart | older | $24.99 | 8,311 76% | 249k | $6.2M (exactly $6,230,757) | Gentlymad Studios |
 | Terra Nil | older | $24.99 | 8,035 87% | 241k | $6.0M (exactly $6,023,840) | Free Lives, Clockwork Acorn |
 | Pioneers of Pagonia | $34.99 | 4,794 81% | 144k | $5.0M (exactly $5,032,262) | Envision Entertainment | |
 | Flotsam | $24.99 | 4,308 80% | 129k | $3.2M (exactly $3,229,708) | Pajama Llama Games | |
 | Nordhold | $19.99 | 2,875 87% | 86k | $1.7M (exactly $1,724,137) | StunForge | |
 | MEMORIAPOLIS | $32.00 | 1,752 75% | 53k | $1.7M (exactly $1,681,920) | 5PM Studio | |
 | Oddsparks: An Automation Adventure | $29.99 | 1,867 82% | 56k | $1.7M (exactly $1,679,740) | Massive Miniteam | |
 | Endzone 2 | $29.99 | 894 65% | 27k | $804k (exactly $804,332) | Gentlymad Studios | |
 | Gold Gold Adventure Gold | $24.99 | 907 70% | 27k | $680k (exactly $679,978) | Can Can Can a Man | |
 | Tower Factory | · EA | $14.99 | 1,220 89% | 37k | $549k (exactly $548,634) | Gius Caminiti |
 | Microtopia | $19.99 | 881 87% | 26k | $528k (exactly $528,336) | Cordyceps Collective |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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