Do I ship it?

Games › Desktop Companion › Desktop Companion + Idler

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Desktop Companion Idler?

Desktop Companion + Idler

Of 164 developers who shipped a Desktop Companion Idler 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.. 269 more are announced.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 1 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $2.5k, ×21 the market's $120 for a 1 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $720; 1 in 20 cleared $450k, ×3813 the market median. Revenue is down 95% on the market; 269 games are announced against 138 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 21.1 times the market baseline, revenue down 95% on the market, 269 announced, ×1.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Desktop Companion + Idler
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 164
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $178k → $2.9M → $7.6k → $187k → $10k → $2.3k (still earning) → $897 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Desktop Companion + Idler: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 164
Bottom 30% $718 (exactly $718)
Median $2.5k (exactly $2,516)
Top 25% $22k (exactly $21,557)
Top 5% $454k (exactly $453,742)
Developers, 2 yr 164
Released games 220
Announced 269
Effort 1 / 10
AI-buildability High
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 down 95% on the market, supply 430% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 15%, 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 high: the lowest rating among its tags.

Desktop Companion
effort 1 / 10 · high · effort 1 sits in the high band
Idler
effort 1 / 10 · high · number growth curves and a UI

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
1 / 10 · text and UI only
Systems
Desktop Companion, Idler; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Creature Collector, Incremental
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $7.99 or above
Art
7 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Relaxing, Cute, 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $7.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 93% positive over 36,193 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 $2.5k, 1 in 4 over $21k, 1 in 20 over $450k.

3 in 10 developers made under $720. 3 in 10 of the 27 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 269 games are announced against 138 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Desktop Companion with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + AnimalsFair22 devs · median $5.6k · 38 announced
  2. + CatsPoor odds20 devs · median $21k · 35 announced
  3. + BuildingPoor odds27 devs · median $20k · 28 announced
  4. + CollectathonPoor odds30 devs · median $6.6k · 45 announced
  5. + Point & ClickPoor odds29 devs · median $5.9k · 34 announced
  6. + Creature CollectorPoor odds63 devs · median $5.6k · 72 announced
  7. + ManagementPoor odds57 devs · median $5.6k · 75 announced
  8. + EconomyPoor odds32 devs · median $4.9k · 37 announced
  9. + RPGPoor odds21 devs · median $4.9k · 55 announced
  10. + Character CustomizationPoor odds44 devs · median $4.5k · 91 announced
  11. + Female ProtagonistPoor odds21 devs · median $4.5k · 24 announced
  12. + Resource ManagementPoor odds50 devs · median $3.7k · 81 announced

All 21 pairs on the Desktop Companion page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Spirit City: Lofi Sessions 2024 · $5.5M Cast n Chill 2025 · $3.8M Rusty's Retirement 2024 · $2.9M Tiny Pasture 2025 · $1.3M Ithya: Magic Studies 2025 · $693k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Spirit City: Lofi Sessions older $11.99 15,211 97% 456k $5.5M (exactly $5,471,397) Mooncube Games
Cast n Chill $14.99 8,383 94% 251k $3.8M (exactly $3,769,835) Wombat Brawler
Rusty's Retirement older $6.99 13,902 96% 417k $2.9M (exactly $2,915,249) Mister Morris Games
Tiny Pasture $5.99 7,055 92% 212k $1.3M (exactly $1,267,784) CaveLiquid
Ithya: Magic Studies $10.99 2,103 97% 63k $693k (exactly $693,359) BlueTurtle
Crusaders Quest : Hero Town $6.99 2,564 76% 77k $538k (exactly $537,671) CQ LABS
Mini Cozy Room: Lo-Fi $4.99 3,443 96% 103k $515k (exactly $515,417) Tesseract Studio, Nugem Studio
Maltese's Fluffy Onsen $5.99 2,727 94% 82k $490k (exactly $490,042) Sinkhole Studio, Moonlab Studio
Ropuka's Idle Island $3.99 4,048 95% 121k $485k (exactly $484,546) Moczan, Little Chmura, Begoña Pereda
Birdwatching Notebook $9.99 1,588 97% 48k $476k (exactly $475,924) Biekka Games
Fish to Dish: Idle Sushi $5.99 2,525 96% 76k $454k (exactly $453,742) Kygua Tech
Desktop Defender $4.99 1,757 92% 53k $263k (exactly $263,023) Conradical Games

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