Games › Economy › Economy + Trains
Should I ship a Train Economy game?
Economy + Trains
Of 31 developers who shipped a Train 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.. 44 more are announced.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $7.2k, ×11 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.3k; 1 in 20 cleared $470k, ×753 the market median. Revenue is down 70% on the market; 44 games are announced against 23 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.3k (exactly $1,258) |
|---|---|
| Median | $7.2k (exactly $7,191) |
| Top 25% | $99k (exactly $98,601) |
| Top 5% | $473k (exactly $472,682) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 31 |
| Released games | 103 |
| Announced | 44 |
| 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 70% on the market, supply 155% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 4%, 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; 9 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Building, Management, Sandbox
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $39.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $39.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 76% positive over 7,923 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.3k. 8 in 10 of the 8 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 44 games are announced against 23 developers who shipped in the last year.
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
Transport Fever 2 2019 · $32M 
Captain of Industry 2022 · EA · $12M 
Derail Valley 2019 · EA · $11M 
Transport Fever 2016 · $8.3M 
Railway Empire 2018 · $6.5M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Transport Fever 2 | older | $39.99 | 26,714 89% | 801k | $32M (exactly $32,048,786) | Urban Games |
| | Captain of Industry | · EA older | $34.99 | 11,027 90% | 331k | $12M (exactly $11,575,042) | MaFi Games |
| | Derail Valley | · EA older | $39.99 | 9,442 96% | 283k | $11M (exactly $11,327,567) | Altfuture |
| | Transport Fever | older | $29.99 | 9,278 82% | 278k | $8.3M (exactly $8,347,417) | Urban Games |
| | Railway Empire | older | $29.99 | 7,219 82% | 217k | $6.5M (exactly $6,494,934) | Gaming Minds Studios |
 | Railroads Online | $29.99 | 5,410 75% | 162k | $4.9M (exactly $4,867,377) | Stefan Kelnberger | |
 | Railroader | · EA older | $29.99 | 3,343 96% | 100k | $3.0M (exactly $3,007,697) | Giraffe Lab LLC |
 | Railway Empire 2 | older | $49.99 | 1,966 72% | 59k | $2.9M (exactly $2,948,410) | Gaming Minds Studios |
 | Rise of Industry | older | $29.99 | 3,122 74% | 94k | $2.8M (exactly $2,808,863) | Dapper Penguin Studios |
 | Factory Town | older | $19.99 | 4,142 90% | 124k | $2.5M (exactly $2,483,957) | Erik Asmussen |
 | Subway Builder | $39.99 | 394 59% | 12k | $473k (exactly $472,682) | Colin Miller, EJ Fox, Curran Kelleher,… (Colin Miller, EJ Fox, Curran Kelleher, Nate Maue, Alex Wohlbruck, Piero Maddaleni, Brooks Flannery) | |
 | Railroad Corporation 2 | $39.99 | 376 69% | 11k | $451k (exactly $451,087) | Corbie Games | |
 | A Bumpy Ride | $14.99 | 569 97% | 17k | $256k (exactly $255,879) | Cosmoporium Games | |
 | Craftlings | $19.99 | 311 86% | 9.3k | $187k (exactly $186,507) | ARIANO Games GmbH | |
 | Steel Artery: Train City Builder | $14.99 | 305 71% | 9.2k | $137k (exactly $137,158) | SoulAge23 | |
 | Factory Town 2: Paradise | · EA | $24.99 | 151 89% | 4.5k | $113k (exactly $113,205) | Erik Asmussen |
 | Super Loco World - Cozy Train Automation | $9.99 | 329 76% | 9.9k | $99k (exactly $98,601) | Andrii Bychkovskyi | |
 | A-Train 9 V5.0 : Japan Train Simulator Ultimate Edition | $39.99 | 36 77% | 1.1k | $43k (exactly $43,189) | ARTDINK | |
 | Empire Builder | $19.99 | 42 95% | 1.3k | $25k (exactly $25,187) | Zombie Possum Games Inc |
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.