Games › Economy › Economy + Dystopian
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.
| 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.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
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
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.
What kills games here
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.
Adjacent niches
Economy with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + Football (Soccer)Fair
- + ScienceFair
- + MiningFair
- + LootFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + God GameFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + IdlerFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + ArcadeFair
- + Strategy RPGFair
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.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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