Games › Economy › Economy + Female Protagonist
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.
| 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.
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
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
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.
What kills games here
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.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | 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.
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.