Do I ship it?

GamesEconomyEconomy + Female Protagonist

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Female-Led Economy game?

Economy + Female Protagonist

Of 36 developers who shipped a Female-Led 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.. 55 more are announced, ×2.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $4.5k, ×7.2 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $4.0M, ×6447 the market median. Revenue is up 35% on the market; 55 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 7.2 times the market baseline, revenue up 35% on the market, 55 announced, ×2.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Economy + Female Protagonist
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 36
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $3.6k → $18k → $7.6k → $27k → $2.7k → $248k → $4.2k (still earning) → $2.2k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Economy + Female Protagonist: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 36
Bottom 30% $449 (exactly $449)
Median $4.5k (exactly $4,491)
Top 25% $46k (exactly $45,554)
Top 5% $4.0M (exactly $4,048,575)
Developers, 2 yr 36
Released games 87
Announced 55
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 up 35% on the market, supply 100% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 8%, 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
Female Protagonist
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Economy; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Character Customization, Life Sim
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $15.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, 3D, Realistic
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $15.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 54% positive over 114,667 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 $4.5k, 1 in 4 over $45k, 1 in 20 over $4.0M.

3 in 10 developers made under $450. 7 in 10 of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 55 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.3 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
EA SPORTS FC™ 26 $69.99 99,773 50% 3.0M $209M (exactly $209,493,368) EA Canada, EA Romania
Dungeons 3 older $29.99 12,648 93% 379k $11M (exactly $11,379,406) Realmforge Studios
Cooking Simulator older $19.99 17,837 84% 535k $11M (exactly $10,696,849) Big Cheese Studio
Touhou Mystia's Izakaya older $5.99 29,517 98% 886k $5.3M (exactly $5,304,205) 二色幽紫蝶, Re零同人社
Streamer Life Simulator 2 $19.99 6,751 81% 203k $4.0M (exactly $4,048,575) Cheesecake Dev
ContractVille $9.99 5,593 80% 168k $1.7M (exactly $1,676,222) MYM Games Studios
Gym Simulator 24 older $12.99 2,531 84% 76k $986k (exactly $986,331) Red Axe Games
Max Gentlemen Sexy Business! older $19.99 1,492 92% 45k $895k (exactly $894,752) The Men Who Wear Many Hats
Streamer Daily older $11.99 1,080 88% 32k $388k (exactly $388,476) Mehan Games
Dust to the End older $11.99 1,076 78% 32k $387k (exactly $387,037) Haojoy Game, Zjoy Game
Console Shop Simulator · EA $15.99 516 92% 15k $248k (exactly $247,525) Lance Games
Cabin Crew Life Simulator · EA $12.99 505 70% 15k $197k (exactly $196,798) SOGA Std
Futanari★Coffee shop $13.99 357 91% 11k $150k (exactly $149,833) W77Games
TOHOTOPIA · EA $3.99 732 97% 22k $88k (exactly $87,620) Remilia Command
Beauty Store Simulator $9.99 176 86% 5.3k $53k (exactly $52,747) NovaraGames
Office Simulator $9.99 152 83% 4.6k $46k (exactly $45,554) Tzn Games
Brothel Tycoon $7.99 112 70% 3.4k $27k (exactly $26,846) DMA Games

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