Games › Economy › Economy + Life Sim
Should I ship a Life Sim Economy game?
Economy + Life Sim
Of 449 developers who shipped a Life Sim 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.. 692 more are announced, ×2.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $7.7k, ×12 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.7k; 1 in 20 cleared $680k, ×1095 the market median. Revenue is down 60% on the market; 692 games are announced against 291 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.6k (exactly $1,617) |
|---|---|
| Median | $7.7k (exactly $7,727) |
| Top 25% | $47k (exactly $47,006) |
| Top 5% | $688k (exactly $687,856) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 449 |
| Released games | 842 |
| Announced | 692 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 60% on the market, supply 65% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 13%, 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, Life Sim; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Management, Immersive Sim
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $16.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, 3D, Realistic
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $16.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 93% positive over 183,418 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.7k. 6 in 10 of the 208 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 692 games are announced against 291 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Economy with a different second tag, 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
Crusader Kings III 2020 · $142M 
Supermarket Simulator 2025 · $48M 
TCG Card Shop Simulator 2026 · $28M 
Big Ambitions 2026 · $11M 
Two Point Museum 2025 · $8.7M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Crusader Kings III | older | $49.99 | 94,615 90% | 2.8M | $142M (exactly $141,894,116) | Paradox Development Studio |
| | Supermarket Simulator | $19.99 | 79,236 92% | 2.4M | $48M (exactly $47,517,829) | Nokta Games | |
| | TCG Card Shop Simulator | $19.99 | 47,357 96% | 1.4M | $28M (exactly $28,399,993) | OPNeon Games | |
| | Big Ambitions | $25.99 | 14,003 92% | 420k | $11M (exactly $10,918,139) | Hovgaard Games | |
| | Two Point Museum | $29.99 | 9,626 95% | 289k | $8.7M (exactly $8,660,512) | Two Point Studios | |
 | Internet Cafe Simulator 2 | older | $19.99 | 12,299 74% | 369k | $7.4M (exactly $7,375,710) | Cheesecake Dev |
 | The Guild 3 | older | $29.99 | 7,120 60% | 214k | $6.4M (exactly $6,405,864) | Purple Lamp, GolemLabs |
 | Project Hospital | older | $24.99 | 8,387 89% | 252k | $6.3M (exactly $6,287,734) | Oxymoron Games |
 | Waterpark Simulator | $12.99 | 13,280 96% | 398k | $5.2M (exactly $5,175,216) | CayPlay | |
 | The Tenants | older | $19.99 | 7,071 79% | 212k | $4.2M (exactly $4,240,479) | EndGameLoop Games |
 | Streamer Life Simulator 2 | $19.99 | 6,751 81% | 203k | $4.0M (exactly $4,048,575) | Cheesecake Dev | |
 | Farm Together 2 | $25.99 | 4,456 93% | 134k | $3.5M (exactly $3,474,343) | Milkstone Studios | |
 | Go-Go Town! | $27.99 | 2,476 93% | 74k | $2.1M (exactly $2,079,097) | Prideful Sloth | |
 | Roadside Research | · EA | $14.99 | 3,991 85% | 120k | $1.8M (exactly $1,794,753) | Cybernetic Walrus |
 | Mirthwood | $24.99 | 2,242 69% | 67k | $1.7M (exactly $1,680,827) | Bad Ridge Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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