Do I ship it?

Games › Collectathon › Collectathon + Futuristic

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Futuristic Collectathon game?

Collectathon + Futuristic

Of 46 developers who shipped a Futuristic Collectathon game 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, ×2.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $450, ×0.9 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $56k, ×120 the market median. Revenue is up 165% on the market; 58 games are announced against 27 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 0.9 times the market baseline, revenue up 165% on the market, 58 announced, ×2.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Collectathon + Futuristic
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 46
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $479 → $2.2k → $299 → $359 → $2.2k → $239 → $899 (still earning) → $449 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Collectathon + Futuristic: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 46
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $449 (exactly $449)
Top 25% $1.8k (exactly $1,798)
Top 5% $57k (exactly $56,833)
Developers, 2 yr 46
Released games 112
Announced 58
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $4.99

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 165% on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 13%, 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.

Collectathon
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
Futuristic
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Collectathon; 3 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Exploration, Adventure
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, 3D, Cute
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 87% positive over 2,226 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $150, median $450, 1 in 4 over $1.7k, 1 in 20 over $56k.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. Nearly all of the 22 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 58 games are announced against 27 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Collectathon with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Job SimulatorStrong odds33 devs · median $33k · 42 announced
  2. + CapitalismStrong odds76 devs · median $6.2k · 75 announced
  3. + Turn-BasedFair7 devs · median $14k · 8 announced
  4. + EconomyFair125 devs · median $3.8k · 151 announced
  5. + ManagementFair182 devs · median $3.5k · 230 announced
  6. + CrimeFair10 devs · median $3.4k · 14 announced
  7. + Level EditorFair15 devs · median $3.4k · 17 announced
  8. + Artificial IntelligenceFair46 devs · median $2.7k · 30 announced
  9. + SokobanFair12 devs · median $2.4k · 9 announced
  10. + MythologyFair18 devs · median $2.4k · 20 announced
  11. + UnderwaterFair37 devs · median $2.3k · 37 announced
  12. + Combat RacingFair10 devs · median $2.2k · 12 announced

All 178 pairs on the Collectathon page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Farlands 2026 · $879k Lunistice 2022 · $271k Anode Heart 2023 · $236k ROLLING STAR 2025 · $78k Chipmatic 2026 · $57k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Farlands $17.99 1,628 89% 49k $879k (exactly $878,632) JanduSoft, Eric Rodríguez
Lunistice older $4.99 1,812 95% 54k $271k (exactly $271,256) A Grumpy Fox
Anode Heart older $17.99 438 90% 13k $236k (exactly $236,389) Stove Powered Games
ROLLING STAR $11.99 216 96% 6.5k $78k (exactly $77,695) NUL2 STUDIO
Chipmatic $11.99 158 65% 4.7k $57k (exactly $56,833) Molter
Elvenfoundry $34.99 46 67% 1.4k $48k (exactly $48,286) SunbathGames
SOULVARS older $16.99 70 78% 2.1k $36k (exactly $35,679) ginolabo, SUCCESS Corp.
Minsgon Simulator $9.99 112 78% 3.4k $34k (exactly $33,566) Vokcen
Sophstar older $9.99 94 100% 2.8k $28k (exactly $28,172) Banana Bytes
Harold's Walk older $8.99 53 100% 1.6k $14k (exactly $14,294) Luke Vincent
Nova Antarctica $24.99 14 78% 420 $10k (exactly $10,496) RexLabo, PARCO GAMES
HANGAR 8 $3.99 29 86% 870 $3.5k (exactly $3,471) Twin Tail Digital
Assassin Of Dombardos $9.99 10 80% 300 $3.0k (exactly $2,997) Saylor Games
The Last Dig $9.99 9 100% 270 $2.7k (exactly $2,697) Chuckle Interactive
One Million Stars $19.99 4 75% 120 $2.4k (exactly $2,399) Tom Sennett Games

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