Do I ship it?

GamesEconomyEconomy + Dystopian

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Dystopian Economy game?

Economy + Dystopian

Of 32 developers who shipped a Dystopian Economy 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.. 61 more are announced, ×2.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.2k, ×1.9 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $240; 1 in 20 cleared $160k, ×266 the market median. Revenue is down 15% on the market; 61 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.9 times the market baseline, revenue down 15% on the market, 61 announced, ×2.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Economy + Dystopian
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 32
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $46k → $898 → $122k → $1.2k (still earning) → $359 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Economy + Dystopian: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 32
Bottom 30% $240 (exactly $240)
Median $1.2k (exactly $1,197)
Top 25% $18k (exactly $17,982)
Top 5% $167k (exactly $167,311)
Developers, 2 yr 32
Released games 62
Announced 61
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $7.99

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 15% on the market, supply 90% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 18%, 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.

Economy
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Dystopian
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Economy; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Management, Strategy
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, 1990's, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 84% positive over 3,734 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 $1.2k, 1 in 4 over $17k, 1 in 20 over $160k.

3 in 10 developers made under $240. 7 in 10 of the 14 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 61 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Job SimulatorFair116 devs · median $22k · 125 announced
  2. + Football (Soccer)Fair21 devs · median $6.8k · 29 announced
  3. + ScienceFair39 devs · median $5.9k · 39 announced
  4. + MiningFair116 devs · median $5.0k · 173 announced
  5. + LootFair74 devs · median $4.6k · 114 announced
  6. + CollectathonFair125 devs · median $3.8k · 151 announced
  7. + God GameFair47 devs · median $2.8k · 58 announced
  8. + Auto BattlerFair59 devs · median $2.4k · 79 announced
  9. + IdlerFair441 devs · median $2.3k · 589 announced
  10. + IncrementalFair408 devs · median $2.2k · 612 announced
  11. + ArcadeFair199 devs · median $2.1k · 285 announced
  12. + Strategy RPGFair95 devs · median $2.0k · 128 announced

All 161 pairs on the Economy page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Dune: Imperium older $22.99 3,806 94% 114k $2.6M (exactly $2,624,998) Dire Wolf
No Umbrellas Allowed older $19.99 1,394 80% 42k $836k (exactly $835,982) Hoochoo Game Studios
Shadows of Forbidden Gods older $19.99 1,046 91% 31k $627k (exactly $627,286) Bobby Two Hands
FACEMINER $7.99 1,517 90% 46k $364k (exactly $363,625) Wristwork
Crisis in the Kremlin: The Cold War $7.99 698 80% 21k $167k (exactly $167,311) Nostalgames
Make America Great Again: The Trump Presidency older $2.99 1,628 85% 49k $146k (exactly $146,032) Maverick Game Studio
Teller's Duty $11.99 388 72% 12k $140k (exactly $139,564) Hiscory
Execute $5.99 679 91% 20k $122k (exactly $122,016) Payne Robinson
Frozen Ship · EA $19.99 142 76% 4.3k $85k (exactly $85,157) Nionetix
Fall of an Empire $29.99 80 67% 2.4k $72k (exactly $71,976) JG Games
Legitimate Space Corp Simulator LLC $12.99 82 69% 2.5k $32k (exactly $31,955) VHornet Games
Cosmic Miners · EA $9.99 60 53% 1.8k $18k (exactly $17,982) bitByte Games
Statecraft: Corrupted Democracy $9.99 33 90% 990 $9.9k (exactly $9,890) Engincan Çiçek, Bad Engine Studio
AI Faith: Compute [>_AIFC] $4.99 55 81% 1.7k $8.2k (exactly $8,234) Beneloop.ai

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