Games › City Builder › City Builder + Transportation
Should I ship a Transportation City Builder?
City Builder + Transportation
Of 32 developers who shipped a Transportation 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.. 58 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $11k, ×17 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.4k; 1 in 20 cleared $470k, ×753 the market median. Revenue is down 60% on the market; 58 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.3k (exactly $1,349) |
|---|---|
| Median | $11k (exactly $10,518) |
| Top 25% | $43k (exactly $43,189) |
| Top 5% | $473k (exactly $472,682) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 32 |
| Released games | 129 |
| Announced | 58 |
| 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 60% on the market, supply 90% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 11%, 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
- Transportation
- 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, Transportation; 9 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Building, Sandbox
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $39.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $39.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 76% positive over 2,728 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.4k. 8 in 10 of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 58 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 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
Cities: Skylines II 2023 · $96M 
Transport Fever 2 2019 · $32M 
Train Simulator Classic 2015 · $18M 
Captain of Industry 2022 · EA · $12M 
Transport Fever 2016 · $8.3M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Cities: Skylines II | older | $49.99 | 64,211 57% | 1.9M | $96M (exactly $96,297,237) | Iceflake Studios, Colossal Order |
| | Transport Fever 2 | older | $39.99 | 26,714 89% | 801k | $32M (exactly $32,048,786) | Urban Games |
| | Train Simulator Classic | older | $29.99 | 19,461 73% | 584k | $18M (exactly $17,509,062) | Dovetail Games |
| | Captain of Industry | · EA older | $34.99 | 11,027 90% | 331k | $12M (exactly $11,575,042) | MaFi Games |
| | Transport Fever | older | $29.99 | 9,278 82% | 278k | $8.3M (exactly $8,347,417) | Urban Games |
 | Construction Simulator | older | $24.99 | 10,606 82% | 318k | $8.0M (exactly $7,951,318) | weltenbauer. Software Entwicklung GmbH |
 | Mini Motorways | older | $9.99 | 23,561 96% | 707k | $7.1M (exactly $7,061,232) | Dinosaur Polo Club |
 | Railway Empire | older | $29.99 | 7,219 82% | 217k | $6.5M (exactly $6,494,934) | Gaming Minds Studios |
 | Airport CEO | older | $24.99 | 7,752 83% | 233k | $5.8M (exactly $5,811,674) | Apog Labs |
 | Railway Empire 2 | older | $49.99 | 1,966 72% | 59k | $2.9M (exactly $2,948,410) | Gaming Minds Studios |
 | City Transport Simulator 2026 - Bus & Tram | $39.99 | 526 73% | 16k | $631k (exactly $631,042) | ViewApp | |
 | Subway Builder | $39.99 | 394 59% | 12k | $473k (exactly $472,682) | Colin Miller, EJ Fox, Curran Kelleher,… (Colin Miller, EJ Fox, Curran Kelleher, Nate Maue, Alex Wohlbruck, Piero Maddaleni, Brooks Flannery) | |
 | Railroad Corporation 2 | $39.99 | 376 69% | 11k | $451k (exactly $451,087) | Corbie Games | |
 | Mini Settlers | $12.99 | 592 85% | 18k | $231k (exactly $230,702) | Knight Owl Games | |
 | GRIDROAD | $9.99 | 385 82% | 12k | $115k (exactly $115,384) | RAJACORP | |
 | Factory Town 2: Paradise | · EA | $24.99 | 151 89% | 4.5k | $113k (exactly $113,205) | Erik Asmussen |
 | Terminal One | $19.99 | 96 66% | 2.9k | $58k (exactly $57,571) | Terminal Reality | |
 | A-Train 9 V5.0 : Japan Train Simulator Ultimate Edition | $39.99 | 36 77% | 1.1k | $43k (exactly $43,189) | ARTDINK | |
 | Microlandia | $8.99 | 143 88% | 4.3k | $39k (exactly $38,567) | Information Superhighway Games | |
 | 3D Train Studio V9 | $34.99 | 29 82% | 870 | $30k (exactly $30,441) | Stefan Werner |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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