Games › Transportation › Transportation + Exploration
Should I ship an Exploration Transportation game?
Transportation + Exploration
Of 73 developers who shipped an Exploration Transportation 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.. 109 more are announced, ×2.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $8.1k, ×13 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.4k; 1 in 20 cleared $9.3M, ×14904 the market median. Revenue is up 155% on the market; 109 games are announced against 45 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.3k (exactly $1,349) |
|---|---|
| Median | $8.1k (exactly $8,095) |
| Top 25% | $197k (exactly $196,798) |
| Top 5% | $9.4M (exactly $9,360,004) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 73 |
| Released games | 163 |
| Announced | 109 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $12.99 |
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 155% on the market, supply 60% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 9%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Transportation
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Exploration
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Transportation, Exploration; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Open World, Driving
- Price point
- $12.99 typical · top 25% priced $34.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Realistic, 3D, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $34.99 or above; the middle game at $12.99.
The top 10 games average 78% positive over 72,151 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.4k. 6 in 10 of the 29 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 109 games are announced against 45 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Transportation with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Character CustomizationFair
- + PvPFair
- + 3D PlatformerFair
- + RacingFair
- + Action-AdventureFair
- + LogicFair
- + ArcadeFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Co-opPoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
- + Level EditorPoor odds
- + Life SimPoor odds
Comparable games
Euro Truck Simulator 2 2012 · $454M 
American Truck Simulator 2016 · $99M 
Pacific Drive 2024 · $19M 
RoadCraft 2025 · $16M 
shapez 2 - Factory 2026 · $12M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Euro Truck Simulator 2 | older | $19.99 | 756,984 97% | 23M | $454M (exactly $453,963,305) | SCS Software |
| | American Truck Simulator | older | $19.99 | 165,692 97% | 5.0M | $99M (exactly $99,365,492) | SCS Software |
| | Pacific Drive | older | $29.99 | 21,547 83% | 646k | $19M (exactly $19,385,836) | Ironwood Studios |
| | RoadCraft | $39.99 | 13,527 74% | 406k | $16M (exactly $16,228,342) | Saber Interactive | |
| | shapez 2 - Factory | $29.99 | 13,846 96% | 415k | $12M (exactly $12,457,246) | tobspr Games | |
 | The Bus | $39.99 | 7,831 73% | 235k | $9.4M (exactly $9,394,851) | TML-Studios | |
 | SAND: Raiders of Sophie | · EA | $24.99 | 12,485 49% | 375k | $9.4M (exactly $9,360,004) | Hologryph, TowerHaus |
 | Railway Empire | older | $29.99 | 7,219 82% | 217k | $6.5M (exactly $6,494,934) | Gaming Minds Studios |
 | SimRail - The Railway Simulator | $34.99 | 5,307 85% | 159k | $5.6M (exactly $5,570,758) | SimRail S.A. | |
 | Motor Town: Behind The Wheel | · EA older | $19.99 | 8,971 93% | 269k | $5.4M (exactly $5,379,909) | P3 Games |
 | Train Sim World® 6 | $49.99 | 2,485 78% | 75k | $3.7M (exactly $3,726,754) | Dovetail Games | |
 | Aviassembly | · EA | $9.99 | 9,323 96% | 280k | $2.8M (exactly $2,794,103) | Jelle Booij |
 | Mars First Logistics | $19.99 | 3,497 94% | 105k | $2.1M (exactly $2,097,151) | Shape Shop | |
 | Seafarer: The Ship Sim | · EA | $34.99 | 1,921 64% | 58k | $2.0M (exactly $2,016,474) | astragon Development |
 | The Legend of Khiimori | · EA | $29.99 | 1,929 82% | 58k | $1.7M (exactly $1,735,521) | Aesir Interactive, NightinGames |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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