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Should I ship an Economy Space Sim?
Space Sim + Economy
Of 54 developers who shipped an Economy Space Sim 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.. 105 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.2k, ×3.4 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $540; 1 in 20 cleared $810k, ×1299 the market median. Revenue is up 100% on the market; 105 games are announced against 42 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $538 (exactly $538) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.2k (exactly $2,156) |
| Top 25% | $8.1k (exactly $8,092) |
| Top 5% | $816k (exactly $815,617) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 54 |
| Released games | 122 |
| Announced | 105 |
| Effort | 6 / 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 up 100% on the market, supply 250% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, 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
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Space Sim, Economy; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Management, Strategy, Simulation
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 73% positive over 8,819 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $540. 8 in 10 of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 105 games are announced against 42 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Space Sim with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + DestructionFair
- + Female ProtagonistFair
- + Tactical RPGFair
- + WarFair
- + Walking SimulatorFair
- + SportsFair
- + DiplomacyLong shot
- + MilitaryPoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
- + Strategy RPGPoor odds
- + SandboxPoor odds
- + Colony SimPoor odds
Comparable games
X4: Foundations 2018 · $38M 
Avorion 2020 · $9.7M 
X Rebirth 2013 · $4.6M 
SpaceBourne 2 2025 · $3.0M 
Dune: Imperium 2024 · $2.6M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | X4: Foundations | older | $49.99 | 25,257 79% | 758k | $38M (exactly $37,877,923) | Egosoft |
| | Avorion | older | $24.99 | 13,001 90% | 390k | $9.7M (exactly $9,746,850) | Boxelware |
| | X Rebirth | older | $29.99 | 5,156 42% | 155k | $4.6M (exactly $4,638,853) | Egosoft |
| | SpaceBourne 2 | $19.99 | 4,951 75% | 149k | $3.0M (exactly $2,969,115) | Burak Dabak | |
| | Dune: Imperium | older | $22.99 | 3,806 94% | 114k | $2.6M (exactly $2,624,998) | Dire Wolf |
 | Star Traders: Frontiers | older | $14.99 | 3,672 83% | 110k | $1.7M (exactly $1,651,298) | Trese Brothers |
 | Starminer | · EA | $29.99 | 1,818 72% | 55k | $1.6M (exactly $1,635,655) | CoolAndGoodGames |
 | X3: Terran Conflict | older | $15.99 | 2,090 84% | 63k | $1.0M (exactly $1,002,573) | Egosoft |
 | Solargene | $34.99 | 777 77% | 23k | $816k (exactly $815,617) | Alexander Semenov | |
 | Frontier Pilot Simulator | older | $24.99 | 836 69% | 25k | $627k (exactly $626,749) | RAZAR s.r.o. |
 | Stellar Settlers: Space Base Builder | $11.99 | 744 69% | 22k | $268k (exactly $267,617) | Tinymice Entertainment | |
 | Space for Sale | $19.99 | 140 50% | 4.2k | $84k (exactly $83,958) | Mirage Game Studios | |
 | Possible One: Lunar Industries | · EA | $24.99 | 53 64% | 1.6k | $40k (exactly $39,734) | Upstairs Games |
 | Lunar Ascendant | $14.99 | 86 44% | 2.6k | $39k (exactly $38,674) | Darts Games | |
 | Legitimate Space Corp Simulator LLC | $12.99 | 82 69% | 2.5k | $32k (exactly $31,955) | VHornet Games | |
 | Riftborne | · EA | $7.99 | 108 91% | 3.2k | $26k (exactly $25,888) | Pitio Productions |
 | Cosmic Miners | · EA | $9.99 | 60 53% | 1.8k | $18k (exactly $17,982) | bitByte Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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