Games › City Builder › City Builder + Simulation
Should I ship a Simulation City Builder?
City Builder + Simulation
Of 555 developers who shipped a Simulation 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.. 1,042 more are announced, ×3.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $6.6k, ×10 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.1k; 1 in 20 cleared $1.7M, ×2855 the market median. Revenue is down 20% on the market; 1,042 games are announced against 317 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.1k (exactly $1,079) |
|---|---|
| Median | $6.6k (exactly $6,587) |
| Top 25% | $95k (exactly $94,753) |
| Top 5% | $1.8M (exactly $1,793,103) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 555 |
| Released games | 1,648 |
| Announced | 1,042 |
| 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 down 20% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 10%, 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
- Simulation
- 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, Simulation; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Building, Strategy, Management
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Relaxing
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 77% positive over 220,489 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.1k. 6 in 10 of the 284 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 1,042 games are announced against 317 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.3 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
Sid Meier’s Civilization® VI 2016 · $497M 
RimWorld 2018 · $219M 
Factorio 2020 · $201M 
Cities: Skylines 2015 · $198M 
Planet Zoo 2019 · $110M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Sid Meier’s Civilization® VI | older | $59.99 | 276,113 86% | 8.3M | $497M (exactly $496,920,566) | Firaxis Games, Aspyr (Mac), Aspyr (Linu… (Firaxis Games, Aspyr (Mac), Aspyr (Linux)) |
| | RimWorld | older | $34.99 | 208,693 97% | 6.3M | $219M (exactly $219,065,042) | Ludeon Studios |
| | Factorio | older | $35.00 | 191,814 97% | 5.8M | $201M (exactly $201,404,700) | Wube Software LTD. |
| | Cities: Skylines | older | $29.99 | 220,465 92% | 6.6M | $198M (exactly $198,352,360) | Colossal Order |
| | Planet Zoo | older | $44.99 | 81,191 90% | 2.4M | $110M (exactly $109,583,493) | Frontier Developments |
 | Frostpunk | older | $29.99 | 114,376 92% | 3.4M | $103M (exactly $102,904,087) | 11 bit studios |
 | Cities: Skylines II | older | $49.99 | 64,211 57% | 1.9M | $96M (exactly $96,297,237) | Iceflake Studios, Colossal Order |
 | Sid Meier's Civilization VII | $69.99 | 44,789 48% | 1.3M | $94M (exactly $94,043,463) | Firaxis Games | |
 | Manor Lords | · EA older | $39.99 | 76,884 84% | 2.3M | $92M (exactly $92,237,735) | Slavic Magic |
 | Planet Coaster | older | $44.99 | 59,443 91% | 1.8M | $80M (exactly $80,230,217) | Frontier Developments, Aspyr (Mac) |
 | Timberborn | $34.99 | 38,529 95% | 1.2M | $40M (exactly $40,443,891) | Mechanistry | |
 | inZOI | · EA | $39.99 | 30,020 77% | 901k | $36M (exactly $36,014,994) | inZOI Studio |
 | Frostpunk 2 | $44.99 | 20,872 74% | 626k | $28M (exactly $28,170,938) | 11 bit studios | |
 | Foundation | $34.99 | 23,037 86% | 691k | $24M (exactly $24,181,939) | Polymorph Games | |
 | Anno 117: Pax Romana | $59.99 | 12,150 69% | 365k | $22M (exactly $21,866,355) | Ubisoft Mainz | |
 | Jurassic World Evolution 3 | $59.99 | 11,387 93% | 342k | $20M (exactly $20,493,184) | Frontier Developments | |
 | Planet Coaster 2 | $49.99 | 13,047 74% | 391k | $20M (exactly $19,566,586) | Frontier Developments | |
 | Going Medieval | $29.99 | 17,032 88% | 511k | $15M (exactly $15,323,690) | Foxy Voxel | |
 | Two Point Museum | $29.99 | 9,626 95% | 289k | $8.7M (exactly $8,660,512) | Two Point Studios |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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