Do I ship it?

Games › City Builder › City Builder + Space

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Space City Builder?

City Builder + Space

Of 50 developers who shipped a Space 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.. 104 more are announced, ×3.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $2.9k, ×4.7 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.2k; 1 in 20 cleared $2.6M, ×4207 the market median. Revenue is up 140% on the market; 104 games are announced against 31 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 4.7 times the market baseline, revenue up 140% on the market, 104 announced, ×3.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
City Builder + Space
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 50
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $35k → $28k → $22k → $2.7k → $2.5k → $2.9k → $7.5k (still earning) → $4.2k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for City Builder + Space: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 50
Bottom 30% $1.2k (exactly $1,198)
Median $2.9k (exactly $2,936)
Top 25% $40k (exactly $39,734)
Top 5% $2.6M (exactly $2,641,739)
Developers, 2 yr 50
Released games 129
Announced 104
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $7.99

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 140% on the market, supply 65% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 8%, 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
Space
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 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; 9 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Base Building, Building, Resource Management
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Atmospheric
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 80% positive over 23,706 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $1.2k, median $2.9k, 1 in 4 over $39k, 1 in 20 over $2.6M.

3 in 10 developers made under $1.2k. 8 in 10 of the 20 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 104 games are announced against 31 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.4 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

Dyson Sphere Program 2021 · EA · $50M IXION 2022 · $16M Space Haven 2026 · $7.7M The Universim 2024 · $7.6M Anno 2205™ 2015 · $7.3M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Dyson Sphere Program · EA older $19.99 83,523 97% 2.5M $50M (exactly $50,088,743) Youthcat Studio
IXION older $34.99 15,281 77% 458k $16M (exactly $16,040,466) Bulwark Studios
Space Haven $24.99 10,267 85% 308k $7.7M (exactly $7,697,170) Bugbyte Ltd.
The Universim older $29.99 8,465 79% 254k $7.6M (exactly $7,615,960) Crytivo
Anno 2205™ older $39.99 6,115 70% 183k $7.3M (exactly $7,336,166) Blue Byte
Planetbase older $14.99 9,558 79% 287k $4.3M (exactly $4,298,233) Madruga Works
Age of Wonders: Planetfall older $29.99 4,758 80% 143k $4.3M (exactly $4,280,773) Triumph Studios
Per Aspera older $29.99 4,105 76% 123k $3.7M (exactly $3,693,268) Tlön Industries
The Crust $31.99 3,502 76% 105k $3.4M (exactly $3,360,869) VEOM Studio
Offworld Trading Company older $29.99 3,598 77% 108k $3.2M (exactly $3,237,121) Mohawk Games
Surviving Mars: Relaunched $39.99 2,202 55% 66k $2.6M (exactly $2,641,739) Haemimont Games
Star Birds · EA $19.99 2,990 92% 90k $1.8M (exactly $1,793,103) Toukana Interactive
Drill Core $19.99 2,130 84% 64k $1.3M (exactly $1,277,361) Hungry Couch Games
Solargene $34.99 777 77% 23k $816k (exactly $815,617) Alexander Semenov
Exogate Initiative $24.99 691 75% 21k $518k (exactly $518,043) Xeno Bits
Stellar Settlers: Space Base Builder $11.99 744 69% 22k $268k (exactly $267,617) Tinymice Entertainment
MegaFactory Titan $19.99 150 76% 4.5k $90k (exactly $89,955) Q Switched Productions, LLC
Desperate Place $10.99 253 66% 7.6k $83k (exactly $83,414) BruceGalaxy

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