Games › Immersive Sim › Immersive Sim + Colony Sim
Should I ship a Colony Sim Immersive Sim?
Immersive Sim + Colony Sim
Of 60 developers who shipped a Colony Sim Immersive 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.. 135 more are announced, ×3.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $6.0k, ×4.0 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $480; 1 in 20 cleared $4.8M, ×3249 the market median. Revenue is up 20% on the market; 135 games are announced against 37 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $479 (exactly $479) |
|---|---|
| Median | $6.0k (exactly $5,998) |
| Top 25% | $59k (exactly $59,370) |
| Top 5% | $4.9M (exactly $4,867,377) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 60 |
| Released games | 139 |
| Announced | 135 |
| Effort | 8 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| 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 up 20% on the market, supply 60% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 8%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Immersive Sim
- effort 8 / 10 · low · effort 8 sits in the low band
- Colony Sim
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 8 / 10 · online systems, open world
- Systems
- Immersive Sim, Colony Sim; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Base Building, Management, Simulation
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 80% positive over 52,381 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $480. 7 in 10 of the 26 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 135 games are announced against 37 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.6 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Immersive Sim with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Trading Card GameStrong odds
- + MinigamesStrong odds
- + WesternStrong odds
- + BoxingStrong odds
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + Asynchronous MultiplayerFair
- + Dating SimFair
- + RomanceFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + Visual NovelFair
- + Split ScreenFair
Comparable games
Farthest Frontier 2025 · $26M 
Infection Free Zone 2024 · EA · $12M 
StarRupture 2026 · EA · $7.4M 
Railroads Online 2024 · $4.9M 
Surviving Mars: Relaunched 2025 · $2.6M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Farthest Frontier | $34.99 | 24,444 86% | 733k | $26M (exactly $25,658,867) | Crate Entertainment | |
| | Infection Free Zone | · EA older | $24.99 | 16,568 80% | 497k | $12M (exactly $12,421,030) | Jutsu Games |
| | StarRupture | · EA | $19.99 | 12,333 80% | 370k | $7.4M (exactly $7,396,100) | Creepy Jar |
| | Railroads Online | $29.99 | 5,410 75% | 162k | $4.9M (exactly $4,867,377) | Stefan Kelnberger | |
| | Surviving Mars: Relaunched | $39.99 | 2,202 55% | 66k | $2.6M (exactly $2,641,739) | Haemimont Games | |
 | Spellcaster University | older | $24.99 | 3,424 83% | 103k | $2.6M (exactly $2,566,973) | Sneaky Yak Studio |
 | Eastern Era | $24.99 | 3,028 65% | 91k | $2.3M (exactly $2,270,092) | FunYoo Games | |
 | Ancient Cities | older | $29.99 | 1,904 64% | 57k | $1.7M (exactly $1,713,029) | Uncasual Games |
 | MEMORIAPOLIS | $32.00 | 1,752 75% | 53k | $1.7M (exactly $1,681,920) | 5PM Studio | |
 | Highrise City | older | $29.99 | 1,240 77% | 37k | $1.1M (exactly $1,115,628) | Fourexo Entertainment |
 | Laysara: Summit Kingdom | $24.99 | 1,421 80% | 43k | $1.1M (exactly $1,065,324) | Quite OK Games | |
 | Orebound | · EA | $24.99 | 945 77% | 28k | $708k (exactly $708,466) | Emberforge |
 | Asbury Pines | · EA | $12.99 | 558 90% | 17k | $217k (exactly $217,453) | Chaystar Unlimited LLC |
 | Of Life and Land | $24.99 | 288 82% | 8.6k | $216k (exactly $215,914) | Kerzoven |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.