Do I ship it?

Games › Economy › Economy + Walking Simulator

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Walking Simulator Economy game?

Economy + Walking Simulator

Of 20 developers who shipped a Walking Simulator 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.. 18 more are announced.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $4.3k, ×6.9 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.2k; 1 in 20 cleared $4.1M, ×6638 the market median. Revenue is down 90% on the market; 18 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 6.9 times the market baseline, revenue down 90% on the market, 18 announced, ×1.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Economy + Walking Simulator
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 20
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $359 → $31k → $11k → $1.2k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Economy + Walking Simulator: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 20
Bottom 30% $1.2k (exactly $1,198)
Median $4.3k (exactly $4,315)
Top 25% $31k (exactly $30,869)
Top 5% $4.2M (exactly $4,168,515)
Developers, 2 yr 20
Released games 43
Announced 18
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 90% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 9%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

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
Walking Simulator
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Economy, Walking Simulator; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Sandbox, Choose Your Own Adventure, Exploration
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $18.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person, Colorful
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $18.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 71% positive over 8,863 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $1.2k, median $4.3k, 1 in 4 over $30k, 1 in 20 over $4.1M.

3 in 10 developers made under $1.2k. 4 in 10 of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 18 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Economy with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Job SimulatorFair116 devs · median $22k · 125 announced
  2. + Football (Soccer)Fair21 devs · median $6.8k · 29 announced
  3. + ScienceFair39 devs · median $5.9k · 39 announced
  4. + MiningFair116 devs · median $5.0k · 173 announced
  5. + LootFair74 devs · median $4.6k · 114 announced
  6. + CollectathonFair125 devs · median $3.8k · 151 announced
  7. + God GameFair47 devs · median $2.8k · 58 announced
  8. + Auto BattlerFair59 devs · median $2.4k · 79 announced
  9. + IdlerFair441 devs · median $2.3k · 589 announced
  10. + IncrementalFair408 devs · median $2.2k · 612 announced
  11. + ArcadeFair199 devs · median $2.1k · 285 announced
  12. + Strategy RPGFair95 devs · median $2.0k · 128 announced

All 161 pairs on the Economy page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Tank Mechanic Simulator 2020 · $5.3M Longvinter 2025 · $4.2M Internet Cafe Simulator 2019 · $2.6M King of Retail 2022 · $2.3M Junkyard Simulator 2021 · EA · $1.3M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Tank Mechanic Simulator older $19.99 8,792 87% 264k $5.3M (exactly $5,272,562) DeGenerals S.A.
Longvinter $19.99 6,951 68% 209k $4.2M (exactly $4,168,515) Uuvana Studios
Internet Cafe Simulator older $9.99 8,729 75% 262k $2.6M (exactly $2,616,081) Cheesecake Dev
King of Retail older $25.99 2,982 88% 89k $2.3M (exactly $2,325,065) Freaking Games
Junkyard Simulator · EA older $19.99 2,182 64% 65k $1.3M (exactly $1,308,545) Rebelia Games
Streamer Daily older $11.99 1,080 88% 32k $388k (exactly $388,476) Mehan Games
Maid Cafe on Electric Street $18.99 595 82% 18k $339k (exactly $338,972) Adventurer's Tavern
Airline Tycoon Deluxe older $9.99 606 84% 18k $182k (exactly $181,618) Spellbound
Corner Kitchen Fast Food Simulator $13.99 411 85% 12k $172k (exactly $172,497) Purple Heads Games
Super Life (RPG) older $9.99 534 90% 16k $160k (exactly $160,040) Klick Ink L.P.
Forest Hustle $4.99 570 90% 17k $85k (exactly $85,329) Mike Forest
Tech Store Simulator $9.99 103 61% 3.1k $31k (exactly $30,869) Astrasoft
Biztopia · EA $7.99 105 68% 3.2k $25k (exactly $25,168) Lymo Games
I Sell Lemonade $13.99 56 67% 1.7k $24k (exactly $23,503) EBS, Picklebyte
Record Shop Simulator $8.99 40 70% 1.2k $11k (exactly $10,788) Octane Owl
Space Supermarket Simulator $9.99 16 75% 480 $4.8k (exactly $4,795) Mythforge Games
Hydro $8.99 16 100% 480 $4.3k (exactly $4,315) Harman Motor Works

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.