Do I ship it?

Games › City Builder › City Builder + Space Sim

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Space Sim City Builder?

City Builder + Space Sim

Of 25 developers who shipped a Space 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.. 45 more are announced, ×3.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $2.5k, ×4.0 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.1k; 1 in 20 cleared $810k, ×1299 the market median. Revenue is up 330% on the market; 45 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 4.0 times the market baseline, revenue up 330% on the market, 45 announced, ×3.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
City Builder + Space Sim
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 25
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $17k → $9.7k → $2.9k → $1.2k → $2.5k → $1.5k → $3.6k (still earning) → $3.9k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for City Builder + Space Sim: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 25
Bottom 30% $1.0k (exactly $1,048)
Median $2.5k (exactly $2,518)
Top 25% $9.4k (exactly $9,352)
Top 5% $816k (exactly $815,617)
Developers, 2 yr 25
Released games 62
Announced 45
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 up 330% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 10%, 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 Sim
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 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, Space Sim; 9 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Colony Sim, Simulation, Building
Price point
$8.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.

The top 10 games average 83% positive over 12,020 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 $2.5k, 1 in 4 over $9.3k, 1 in 20 over $810k.

3 in 10 developers made under $1.1k. 9 in 10 of the 11 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 45 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.2 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

Dyson Sphere Program 2021 · EA · $50M Space Haven 2026 · $7.7M Planetbase 2015 · $4.3M Industries of Titan 2023 · $1.4M Solargene 2026 · $816k
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
Space Haven $24.99 10,267 85% 308k $7.7M (exactly $7,697,170) Bugbyte Ltd.
Planetbase older $14.99 9,558 79% 287k $4.3M (exactly $4,298,233) Madruga Works
Industries of Titan older $29.99 1,553 61% 47k $1.4M (exactly $1,397,234) Brace Yourself Games
Solargene $34.99 777 77% 23k $816k (exactly $815,617) Alexander Semenov
Meeple Station older $19.99 645 57% 19k $387k (exactly $386,806) Gameclaw Studio
Stellar Settlers: Space Base Builder $11.99 744 69% 22k $268k (exactly $267,617) Tinymice Entertainment
Space Colony: Steam Edition older $14.99 564 78% 17k $254k (exactly $253,631) Firefly Studios
Stable Orbit - Build your own space station older $19.99 278 51% 8.3k $167k (exactly $166,717) Jim Offerman
The Final Earth 2 older $9.99 407 97% 12k $122k (exactly $121,978) Florian van Strien
Possible One: Lunar Industries · EA $24.99 53 64% 1.6k $40k (exactly $39,734) Upstairs Games
Final Frontier Story $8.99 48 72% 1.4k $13k (exactly $12,946) Kairosoft Co.,Ltd
soul Interface · EA $12.99 25 76% 750 $9.7k (exactly $9,742) soulless technologies
ExoColony: Planet Survival $11.99 26 69% 780 $9.4k (exactly $9,352) Simplemole
Stellar outpost commander $8.99 30 83% 900 $8.1k (exactly $8,091) Kinderril
Sigma World Online $4.99 37 70% 1.1k $5.5k (exactly $5,539) Crematorium of Time
Hexalith $9.99 13 100% 390 $3.9k (exactly $3,896) Artemi Studios

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