Games › Life Sim › Life Sim + Dystopian
Should I ship a Dystopian Life Sim?
Life Sim + Dystopian
Of 30 developers who shipped a Dystopian Life Sim 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.. 56 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $3.9k, ×8.2 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $480; 1 in 20 cleared $450k, ×960 the market median. Revenue is down 80% on the market; 56 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $478 (exactly $478) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.9k (exactly $3,897) |
| Top 25% | $16k (exactly $16,301) |
| Top 5% | $456k (exactly $455,838) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 30 |
| Released games | 72 |
| Announced | 56 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| 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 80% on the market, supply 100% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 15%, 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
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Life Sim; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Choices Matter, Immersive Sim
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, Story Rich, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 78% positive over 8,061 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $480. 7 in 10 of the 14 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 56 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Life Sim with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + MinigamesStrong odds
- + MusicStrong odds
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + Football (Soccer)Fair
- + FaithFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + GamblingFair
- + DemonsFair
- + Point & ClickFair
- + LogicFair
- + ZombiesFair
Comparable games
VA-11 Hall-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action 2016 · $15M 
ANEURISM IV 2025 · $1.7M 
Not Tonight 2018 · $1.3M 
Obenseuer 2018 · EA · $1.0M 
Landlord's Super 2023 · $865k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | VA-11 Hall-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action | older | $14.99 | 33,838 97% | 1.0M | $15M (exactly $15,216,949) | Sukeban Games |
| | ANEURISM IV | $9.99 | 5,686 75% | 171k | $1.7M (exactly $1,704,094) | Vellocet | |
| | Not Tonight | older | $19.99 | 2,220 84% | 67k | $1.3M (exactly $1,331,334) | PanicBarn |
| | Obenseuer | · EA older | $19.99 | 1,684 94% | 51k | $1.0M (exactly $1,009,895) | Loiste Interactive |
| | Landlord's Super | older | $19.99 | 1,442 80% | 43k | $865k (exactly $864,767) | Minskworks |
 | Do Not Feed the Monkeys 2099 | older | $14.99 | 1,036 68% | 31k | $466k (exactly $465,889) | Fictiorama Studios |
 | Static Dread: The Lighthouse | $10.90 | 1,394 90% | 42k | $456k (exactly $455,838) | solarsuit.games | |
 | Hentai Femdom Sim: Femdom University | older | $34.99 | 348 79% | 10k | $365k (exactly $365,296) | SaliaCoel |
 | Not Tonight 2 | older | $19.99 | 465 76% | 14k | $279k (exactly $278,860) | PanicBarn |
 | Booth: A Dystopian Adventure | older | $9.99 | 354 88% | 11k | $106k (exactly $106,094) | Guanpeng Chen |
 | Sex Desert: Mad Lust | $9.99 | 323 61% | 9.7k | $97k (exactly $96,803) | Carnality INC | |
 | UncleOffice:uncle Dating Simulator | $15.99 | 92 61% | 2.8k | $44k (exactly $44,132) | GameUncle | |
 | Choice of Life: Samosbor | $4.99 | 236 87% | 7.1k | $35k (exactly $35,329) | Blazing Planet Studio | |
 | Legitimate Space Corp Simulator LLC | $12.99 | 82 69% | 2.5k | $32k (exactly $31,955) | VHornet Games | |
 | Something to Drink? | $9.99 | 84 98% | 2.5k | $25k (exactly $25,175) | Adam's Games | |
 | Quality Dreams, Reasonably Priced | $16.98 | 32 100% | 960 | $16k (exactly $16,301) | zorkie studios | |
 | The State of Nowhere | $19.99 | 26 88% | 780 | $16k (exactly $15,592) | Anomaly Works | |
 | Trump Simulator 2025 | $3.99 | 106 91% | 3.2k | $13k (exactly $12,688) | Luke Gayson |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.