Do I ship it?

GamesDestructionDestruction + Level Editor

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Level Editor Destruction game?

Destruction + Level Editor

Only 19 developers shipped a Level Editor Destruction game in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Turbo Dismount® 2, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 27 more are announced, ×2.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $2.3k, ×3.7 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $450k, ×719 the market median. Revenue is down 90% on the market; 27 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.7 times the market baseline, revenue down 90% on the market, 27 announced, ×2.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Destruction + Level Editor
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 19
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.8k → $1.8k → $42k → $4.9k → $2.7k (still earning) → $150 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Destruction + Level Editor: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 19
Bottom 30% $449 (exactly $449)
Median $2.3k (exactly $2,307)
Top 25% $33k (exactly $32,934)
Top 5% $452k (exactly $451,574)
Developers, 2 yr 19
Released games 72
Announced 27
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 90% on the market, supply 115% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 11%, 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.

Destruction
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Level Editor
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 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
Destruction, Level Editor; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Building, Sandbox, Action
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Colorful, First-Person
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 84% positive over 1,838 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $450, median $2.3k, 1 in 4 over $32k, 1 in 20 over $450k.

3 in 10 developers made under $450. 7 in 10 of the 6 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 27 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Space SimFair14 devs · median $3.7k · 22 announced
  2. + ModernFair26 devs · median $1.6k · 28 announced
  3. + God GameFair19 devs · median $899 · 20 announced
  4. + Hidden ObjectFair9 devs · median $719 · 14 announced
  5. + Hack and SlashPoor odds19 devs · median $43k · 57 announced
  6. + HistoricalPoor odds15 devs · median $26k · 22 announced
  7. + CapitalismPoor odds17 devs · median $15k · 46 announced
  8. + Online Co-OpPoor odds37 devs · median $13k · 102 announced
  9. + Co-opPoor odds50 devs · median $11k · 113 announced
  10. + Automobile SimPoor odds22 devs · median $9.0k · 44 announced
  11. + ManagementPoor odds36 devs · median $6.1k · 129 announced
  12. + AutomationPoor odds22 devs · median $6.0k · 46 announced

All 139 pairs on the Destruction page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Besiege older $14.99 48,045 95% 1.4M $22M (exactly $21,605,836) Spiderling Studios
Forts older $14.99 21,216 92% 636k $9.5M (exactly $9,540,835) EarthWork Games
Severed Steel older $24.99 8,880 95% 266k $6.7M (exactly $6,657,336) Greylock Studio
Clustertruck older $14.99 14,706 93% 441k $6.6M (exactly $6,613,288) Landfall
Men of War: Assault Squad older $9.99 4,029 87% 121k $1.2M (exactly $1,207,491) Digitalmindsoft
Rock of Ages 3: Make & Break older $14.99 1,259 78% 38k $566k (exactly $566,172) ACE Team, Giant Monkey Robot
Crashday Redline Edition older $11.99 1,528 89% 46k $550k (exactly $549,622) Moonbyte
Turbo Dismount® 2 $19.99 753 95% 23k $452k (exactly $451,574) Secret Exit Ltd.
Wreckreation $39.99 360 63% 11k $432k (exactly $431,892) Three Fields Entertainment
Ridge Racer™ Unbounded older $9.99 1,159 64% 35k $347k (exactly $347,352) BUGBEAR
Annihilate The Spance · EA $29.99 347 90% 10k $312k (exactly $312,196) Skyglow Softworks
Voxile · EA $17.99 78 69% 2.3k $42k (exactly $42,097) VoxRay Games, Inc.
RAGDORE · EA $4.99 220 78% 6.6k $33k (exactly $32,934) GreenGO
Maelstrom: The Battle for Earth Begins Enhanced $6.99 33 75% 990 $6.9k (exactly $6,920) KDV Games
Crafty Racer · EA $14.99 11 100% 330 $4.9k (exactly $4,947) Peterclark
Falling Stars... and other celestial objects $12.99 7 100% 210 $2.7k (exactly $2,728) From The Moon
Blow it up $4.99 18 100% 540 $2.7k (exactly $2,695) Brain Seal Ltd
Velocrash · EA $6.99 11 100% 330 $2.3k (exactly $2,307) Apolloxian Games

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