Games › Exploration › Exploration + Spaceships
Should I ship a Spaceship Exploration game?
Exploration + Spaceships
Of 22 developers who shipped a Spaceship Exploration 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.. 28 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $3.5k, ×5.6 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $1.5k. Revenue is up 685% on the market; 28 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.4k (exactly $1,436) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.5k (exactly $3,506) |
| Top 25% | $33k (exactly $33,278) |
| Top 5% | $1.9M (exactly $1,881,259) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 22 |
| Released games | 59 |
| Announced | 28 |
| 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 up 685% on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 5%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Exploration
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Spaceships
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Exploration; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Flight, PvE, Adventure
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 82% positive over 16,142 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.5k. 9 in 10 of the 10 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 28 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Exploration with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Roguelike DeckbuilderFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + Escape RoomFair
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
- + WuxiaPoor odds
- + Extraction ShooterPoor odds
- + Martial ArtsPoor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + MMORPGPoor odds
- + FMVPoor odds
- + FarmingPoor odds
- + Job SimulatorPoor odds
Comparable games
Avorion 2020 · $9.7M 
Cosmoteer: Starship Architect & Commander 2022 · EA · $7.2M 
Jump Space 2025 · EA · $6.4M 
Spaceflight Simulator 2022 · EA · $4.2M 
Chorus 2021 · $2.9M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Avorion | older | $24.99 | 13,001 90% | 390k | $9.7M (exactly $9,746,850) | Boxelware |
| | Cosmoteer: Starship Architect & Commander | · EA older | $19.99 | 12,013 94% | 360k | $7.2M (exactly $7,204,196) | Walternate Realities |
| | Jump Space | · EA | $19.99 | 10,724 85% | 322k | $6.4M (exactly $6,431,183) | Keepsake Games |
| | Spaceflight Simulator | · EA older | $14.99 | 9,431 96% | 283k | $4.2M (exactly $4,241,121) | Team Curiosity ✦ |
| | Chorus | older | $24.99 | 3,876 81% | 116k | $2.9M (exactly $2,905,837) | Deep Silver Fishlabs |
 | PULSAR: Lost Colony | older | $19.99 | 4,409 89% | 132k | $2.6M (exactly $2,644,077) | Leafy Games |
 | Star Valor | older | $24.99 | 3,272 88% | 98k | $2.5M (exactly $2,453,018) | Rafael Burgos |
 | Ostranauts | $19.99 | 3,137 77% | 94k | $1.9M (exactly $1,881,259) | Blue Bottle Games | |
 | Starminer | · EA | $29.99 | 1,818 72% | 55k | $1.6M (exactly $1,635,655) | CoolAndGoodGames |
 | Shortest Trip to Earth | older | $25.99 | 1,257 76% | 38k | $980k (exactly $980,083) | Interactive Fate |
 | HELL GALAXY | $24.99 | 89 74% | 2.7k | $67k (exactly $66,723) | Italian Games Factory | |
 | Clonizer | $14.99 | 146 82% | 4.4k | $66k (exactly $65,656) | Juicy Plume | |
 | Command Deck | · EA | $14.99 | 74 98% | 2.2k | $33k (exactly $33,278) | k-critical |
 | Quantum Void | $11.99 | 69 95% | 2.1k | $25k (exactly $24,819) | TacNours | |
 | eXoSpace Combat Engineer | · EA | $14.99 | 44 81% | 1.3k | $20k (exactly $19,787) | Fantastimaker |
 | Leaks In Space | · EA | $14.99 | 14 71% | 420 | $6.3k (exactly $6,296) | Frostech Game Studio |
 | Periapsis: Gravity Slingshot | $5.99 | 27 81% | 810 | $4.9k (exactly $4,852) | PcZ Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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