Games › Economy › Economy + Underground
Should I ship an Underground Economy game?
Economy + Underground
Of 27 developers who shipped an Underground 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.. 53 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $3.0k, ×4.8 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $960; 1 in 20 cleared $690k, ×1112 the market median. Revenue is up 180% on the market; 53 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $960 (exactly $960) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.0k (exactly $2,994) |
| Top 25% | $8.7k (exactly $8,691) |
| Top 5% | $698k (exactly $698,342) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 27 |
| Released games | 40 |
| Announced | 53 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 180% on the market, supply 185% 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
- Underground
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Economy; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Mining, Simulation, Exploration
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Colorful, 3D, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 24,116 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $960. 8 in 10 of the 8 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 53 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 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
Mr. Prepper 2021 · $2.9M 
A Game About Digging A Hole™ 2025 · $2.8M 
The Spotter: Dig or Die 2026 · $698k 
Coal LLC 2025 · $604k 
Meltopia 2026 · $352k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Mr. Prepper | older | $19.99 | 4,795 81% | 144k | $2.9M (exactly $2,875,562) | Rejected Games |
| | A Game About Digging A Hole™ | $4.99 | 18,785 89% | 564k | $2.8M (exactly $2,812,114) | DoubleBee | |
| | The Spotter: Dig or Die | $12.99 | 1,792 84% | 54k | $698k (exactly $698,342) | Puppyroar Games | |
| | Coal LLC | $14.99 | 1,343 92% | 40k | $604k (exactly $603,947) | Bye Bye Ocean | |
| | Meltopia | $6.99 | 1,679 85% | 50k | $352k (exactly $352,086) | Garden of Dreams | |
 | STATIONflow | older | $17.99 | 479 85% | 14k | $259k (exactly $258,516) | DMM GAMES |
 | Beneath the Mountain | older | $24.99 | 196 63% | 5.9k | $147k (exactly $146,941) | Omnis Rector Studios |
 | Deep Corp | · EA | $11.99 | 365 89% | 11k | $131k (exactly $131,290) | KishMish Games |
 | The Commission 1920: Organized Crime Grand Strategy | older | $14.99 | 29 62% | 870 | $13k (exactly $13,041) | 302 Interactive |
 | Orebits | $6.99 | 42 66% | 1.3k | $8.8k (exactly $8,807) | Upgraded Studio | |
 | Dig & Deal | $9.99 | 29 75% | 870 | $8.7k (exactly $8,691) | ToYa Games | |
 | Exipelago | $24.99 | 9 66% | 270 | $6.7k (exactly $6,747) | reiti.net | |
 | Metro Mini Market Simulator | $3.99 | 49 69% | 1.5k | $5.9k (exactly $5,865) | Altai Entertainment | |
 | Dig For Riches | $7.99 | 23 52% | 690 | $5.5k (exactly $5,513) | OxygenStudio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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