Do I ship it?

Games › Colony Sim › Colony Sim + Futuristic

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Futuristic Colony Sim?

Colony Sim + Futuristic

Of 43 developers who shipped a Futuristic Colony Sim 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.. 97 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 $5.1k, ×8.2 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $720; 1 in 20 cleared $83k, ×134 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 97 games are announced against 29 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 8.2 times the market baseline, revenue flat on the market, 97 announced, ×3.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Colony Sim + Futuristic
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 43
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $35k → $25k → $1.1k → $34k → $1.5k → $38k (still earning) → $5.4k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Colony Sim + Futuristic: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 43
Bottom 30% $719 (exactly $719)
Median $5.1k (exactly $5,147)
Top 25% $39k (exactly $38,674)
Top 5% $84k (exactly $83,958)
Developers, 2 yr 43
Released games 99
Announced 97
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 flat on the market, supply 105% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 17%, 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.

Colony Sim
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 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
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Colony Sim; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Simulation, Building
Price point
$9.99 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 $9.99.

The top 10 games average 79% positive over 2,429 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $720, median $5.1k, 1 in 4 over $38k, 1 in 20 over $83k.

3 in 10 developers made under $720. 7 in 10 of the 18 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 97 games are announced against 29 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.3 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Female ProtagonistFair7 devs · median $4.6k · 11 announced
  2. + ArcadeLong shot13 devs · median $359 · 19 announced
  3. + 4XPoor odds23 devs · median $314k · 77 announced
  4. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds11 devs · median $170k · 25 announced
  5. + Co-opPoor odds13 devs · median $73k · 54 announced
  6. + Real-Time with PausePoor odds11 devs · median $73k · 21 announced
  7. + HistoricalPoor odds42 devs · median $59k · 75 announced
  8. + Alternate HistoryPoor odds16 devs · median $59k · 43 announced
  9. + Open WorldPoor odds78 devs · median $58k · 168 announced
  10. + Action RPGPoor odds11 devs · median $58k · 35 announced
  11. + Post-apocalypticPoor odds48 devs · median $54k · 101 announced
  12. + MarsPoor odds13 devs · median $50k · 31 announced

All 93 pairs on the Colony Sim page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Cliff Empire 2019 · $2.3M Industries of Titan 2023 · $1.4M Solargene 2026 · $816k Aquatico 2023 · $589k Microtopia 2025 · $528k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Cliff Empire older $17.99 4,194 87% 126k $2.3M (exactly $2,263,502) Lion's Shade
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
Aquatico older $24.99 786 67% 24k $589k (exactly $589,264) Digital Reef Games
Microtopia $19.99 881 87% 26k $528k (exactly $528,336) Cordyceps Collective
Grand Emprise: Time Travel Survival older $19.99 807 69% 24k $484k (exactly $483,958) Tbjbu2
Meeple Station older $19.99 645 57% 19k $387k (exactly $386,806) Gameclaw Studio
Reshaping Mars older $9.99 753 84% 23k $226k (exactly $225,674) Tholus
Mercury Fallen older $24.99 255 80% 7.7k $191k (exactly $191,174) Nitrous Butterfly
The Final Earth 2 older $9.99 407 97% 12k $122k (exactly $121,978) Florian van Strien
Space for Sale $19.99 140 50% 4.2k $84k (exactly $83,958) Mirage Game Studios
Outlive 25 $11.99 204 93% 6.1k $73k (exactly $73,379) Continuum Entertainment
Utopia Colony $16.99 99 63% 3.0k $50k (exactly $50,460) GridSky Studios
Elvenfoundry $34.99 46 67% 1.4k $48k (exactly $48,286) SunbathGames
Project Afterfall · EA $19.99 80 75% 2.4k $48k (exactly $47,976) MuHa Games, Eerie Forest Studio
Amberspire $24.99 58 86% 1.7k $43k (exactly $43,483) Lunar Division
Oasis Mission: Colony Sim $14.99 91 56% 2.7k $41k (exactly $40,923) Lunar pug studio
Possible One: Lunar Industries · EA $24.99 53 64% 1.6k $40k (exactly $39,734) Upstairs Games

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