Do I ship it?

Games › Destruction › Destruction + Resource Management

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Resource Management Destruction game?

Destruction + Resource Management

Of 41 developers who shipped a Resource Management Destruction 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.. 118 more are announced, ×3.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $990, ×1.6 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $240; 1 in 20 cleared $250k, ×399 the market median. Revenue is down 35% on the market; 118 games are announced against 33 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.6 times the market baseline, revenue down 35% on the market, 118 announced, ×3.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Destruction + Resource Management
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 41
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.7M → $33k → $92k → $2.6k → $838 → $6.0k (still earning) → $629 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Destruction + Resource Management: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 41
Bottom 30% $240 (exactly $240)
Median $987 (exactly $987)
Top 25% $20k (exactly $19,780)
Top 5% $251k (exactly $250,801)
Developers, 2 yr 41
Released games 92
Announced 118
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $6.99

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 35% on the market, supply 315% 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.

Destruction
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Resource Management
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
Destruction, Resource Management; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Management, Action
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Pixel Graphics, Relaxing
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 92% positive over 13,343 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $240, median $990, 1 in 4 over $19k, 1 in 20 over $250k.

3 in 10 developers made under $240. 6 in 10 of the 8 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 118 games are announced against 33 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.6 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

Dawn of Man 2019 · $13M MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries 2021 · $12M Stranded: Alien Dawn 2023 · $10M Bills Must Be Paid 2026 · $2.1M Hotel Renovator 2023 · $1.7M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Dawn of Man older $24.99 17,094 86% 513k $13M (exactly $12,815,372) Madruga Works
MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries older $29.99 13,347 84% 400k $12M (exactly $12,008,296) Piranha Games Inc.
Stranded: Alien Dawn older $34.99 9,715 84% 291k $10M (exactly $10,197,836) Haemimont Games
Bills Must Be Paid $6.99 9,928 96% 298k $2.1M (exactly $2,081,902) Rike Games
Hotel Renovator older $24.99 2,223 77% 67k $1.7M (exactly $1,666,583) Two Horizons
Demolish & Build 2018 older $9.99 1,518 77% 46k $455k (exactly $454,945) Noble Muffins
Annihilate The Spance · EA $29.99 347 90% 10k $312k (exactly $312,196) Skyglow Softworks
Fracture Field $6.99 1,196 75% 36k $251k (exactly $250,801) Type Ten
Demolish & Build 3 older $19.99 258 39% 7.7k $155k (exactly $154,723) Demolish Games S.A.
Dawn Apart · EA $19.99 245 68% 7.4k $147k (exactly $146,926) Industrial Technology and Witchcraft
Extinction Day $19.99 206 74% 6.2k $124k (exactly $123,538) DryGin Studios
Junkyard Builder $14.99 223 70% 6.7k $100k (exactly $100,283) FreeMind S.A.
DigDigDrill $3.99 607 95% 18k $73k (exactly $72,658) Toorai
Territory Control 2 · EA $19.99 92 77% 2.8k $55k (exactly $55,172) TFlippy, Knorrepot
Deep Space Exploitation $8.99 131 96% 3.9k $35k (exactly $35,331) JuhrJuhr
Far Mining $2.99 368 95% 11k $33k (exactly $33,010) LostVolBytes

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