Games › Economy › Economy + Robots
Should I ship a Robot Economy game?
Economy + Robots
Only 18 developers shipped a Robot Economy game in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, ZeroSpace, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 51 more are announced, ×4.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.7k, ×4.3 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $60; 1 in 20 cleared $1.3M, ×2218 the market median. Revenue is down 25% on the market; 51 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $60 (exactly $60) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.7k (exactly $2,726) |
| Top 25% | $8.7k (exactly $8,700) |
| Top 5% | $1.4M (exactly $1,392,852) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 18 |
| Released games | 42 |
| Announced | 51 |
| 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 25% on the market, supply 55% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 10%, 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; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Base Building, Building
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 81% positive over 1,549 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $60. 9 in 10 of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 51 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.6 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
Automation Empire 2019 · $2.3M 
ZeroSpace 2026 · EA · $1.4M 
Good Company 2022 · $1.1M 
The Colonists 2018 · $789k 
Mech Mechanic Simulator 2021 · $323k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Automation Empire | older | $29.99 | 2,584 65% | 78k | $2.3M (exactly $2,324,825) | DOG HOGGLER |
| | ZeroSpace | · EA | $39.99 | 1,161 78% | 35k | $1.4M (exactly $1,392,852) | Starlance Studios, Ironward |
| | Good Company | older | $24.99 | 1,480 73% | 44k | $1.1M (exactly $1,109,556) | Chasing Carrots |
| | The Colonists | older | $24.99 | 1,052 85% | 32k | $789k (exactly $788,684) | Codebyfire |
| | Mech Mechanic Simulator | older | $19.99 | 538 61% | 16k | $323k (exactly $322,639) | Polyslash |
 | Crypto Mining Simulator | older | $4.99 | 1,419 65% | 43k | $212k (exactly $212,424) | Satosha Nakamoti |
 | Sky End Market | · EA | $18.99 | 164 96% | 4.9k | $93k (exactly $93,431) | Andymente |
 | Smart Factory Tycoon | older | $14.99 | 194 67% | 5.8k | $87k (exactly $87,242) | Turquoise Revival Games |
 | Trade Bots: A Technical Analysis Simulation | older | $11.99 | 100 63% | 3.0k | $36k (exactly $35,970) | Cinq-Mars Media |
 | Russian Village Simulator on Mars | $15.99 | 58 77% | 1.7k | $28k (exactly $27,823) | VD Games, PropilGames | |
 | Stellar Reach | $19.99 | 34 79% | 1.0k | $20k (exactly $20,390) | Stelleas | |
 | Terraforming Titans | $5.00 | 58 94% | 1.7k | $8.7k (exactly $8,700) | terraforming.titans | |
 | Die for the Economy! | $7.99 | 21 100% | 630 | $5.0k (exactly $5,034) | Tea Monster Games | |
 | Ekoh Beach | $7.99 | 16 68% | 480 | $3.8k (exactly $3,835) | Zenland Games | |
 | Bots & Mods | $8.99 | 11 72% | 330 | $3.0k (exactly $2,967) | Bit66 | |
 | Built the End | $6.99 | 13 100% | 390 | $2.7k (exactly $2,726) | SOHwhatifiCAHnot | |
 | RoboDeal Simulator | $3.99 | 13 92% | 390 | $1.6k (exactly $1,556) | Dual Cluster Studios |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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