Games › Economy › Economy + Political Sim
Should I ship a Political Sim Economy game?
Economy + Political Sim
Of 102 developers who shipped a Political 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.. 176 more are announced, ×2.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.7k, ×2.7 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $150k, ×254 the market median. Revenue is down 20% on the market; 176 games are announced against 67 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $599 (exactly $599) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.7k (exactly $1,679) |
| Top 25% | $17k (exactly $17,094) |
| Top 5% | $160k (exactly $159,520) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 102 |
| Released games | 230 |
| Announced | 176 |
| 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 20% on the market, supply 80% 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
- Political Sim
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Economy, Political Sim; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Simulation, Management
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 50% positive over 49,937 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $600. 8 in 10 of the 40 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 176 games are announced against 67 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 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
Sid Meier's Civilization VII 2025 · $94M 
Victoria 3 2022 · $62M 
Tropico 6 2019 · $24M 
Imperator: Rome 2019 · $23M 
Eco 2018 · EA · $10M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Sid Meier's Civilization VII | $69.99 | 44,789 48% | 1.3M | $94M (exactly $94,043,463) | Firaxis Games | |
| | Victoria 3 | older | $49.99 | 41,251 71% | 1.2M | $62M (exactly $61,864,125) | Paradox Development Studio |
| | Tropico 6 | older | $39.99 | 19,837 88% | 595k | $24M (exactly $23,798,449) | Limbic Entertainment, Realmforge Studios |
| | Imperator: Rome | older | $39.99 | 19,492 65% | 585k | $23M (exactly $23,384,552) | Paradox Development Studio |
| | Eco | · EA older | $29.99 | 11,375 80% | 341k | $10M (exactly $10,234,088) | Strange Loop Games |
 | Victoria II | older | $19.99 | 16,504 92% | 495k | $9.9M (exactly $9,897,449) | Paradox Development Studio |
 | Tropico 5 | older | $19.99 | 9,796 78% | 294k | $5.9M (exactly $5,874,661) | Haemimont Games |
 | Democracy 4 | older | $29.99 | 5,891 81% | 177k | $5.3M (exactly $5,300,133) | Positech Games |
 | Democracy 3 | older | $24.99 | 6,245 73% | 187k | $4.7M (exactly $4,681,876) | Positech Games |
 | Tropico 4 | older | $14.99 | 8,211 91% | 246k | $3.7M (exactly $3,692,487) | Haemimont Games |
 | Ascension | · EA | $19.99 | 2,437 60% | 73k | $1.5M (exactly $1,461,469) | Element Game 微元游戏 |
 | Geo-Political Simulator 5 | $59.99 | 391 34% | 12k | $704k (exactly $703,683) | Eversim | |
 | Geo-Political Simulator 2026 Edition | $59.99 | 249 48% | 7.5k | $448k (exactly $448,125) | Eversim | |
 | Realpolitiks 3: Earth and Beyond | $24.99 | 253 39% | 7.6k | $190k (exactly $189,674) | Jujubee | |
 | Crisis in the Kremlin: The Cold War | $7.99 | 698 80% | 21k | $167k (exactly $167,311) | Nostalgames | |
 | Pompeii: The Legacy | $19.99 | 266 80% | 8.0k | $160k (exactly $159,520) | Siscia Games | |
 | Astrobuilder | $14.99 | 350 88% | 11k | $157k (exactly $157,395) | wastudio | |
 | AfterWar | $34.99 | 139 72% | 4.2k | $146k (exactly $145,908) | Dmytro Lumen | |
 | Monarch : Medieval Remastered | $11.99 | 365 80% | 11k | $131k (exactly $131,290) | Mr.Lordy |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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