Do I ship it?

Games › Space Sim › Space Sim + Fantasy

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Fantasy Space Sim?

Space Sim + Fantasy

Only 19 developers shipped a Fantasy Space Sim in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Farlands, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 16 more are announced.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.2k, ×1.9 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $90; 1 in 20 cleared $870k, ×1399 the market median. Revenue is down 45% on the market; 16 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.9 times the market baseline, revenue down 45% on the market, 16 announced, ×1.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Space Sim + Fantasy
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 19
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $479 → $2.2k → $3.6k → $5.5k → $1.2k (still earning) → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Space Sim + Fantasy: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 19
Bottom 30% $90 (exactly $90)
Median $1.2k (exactly $1,199)
Top 25% $6.1k (exactly $6,138)
Top 5% $879k (exactly $878,632)
Developers, 2 yr 19
Released games 57
Announced 16
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $4.99

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 45% on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 19%, 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.

Space Sim
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Fantasy
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Space Sim; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Exploration, RPG
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $39.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Story Rich, Top-Down
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $39.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 88% positive over 1,910 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $90, median $1.2k, 1 in 4 over $6.1k, 1 in 20 over $870k.

3 in 10 developers made under $90. 9 in 10 of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 16 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Space Sim with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + DestructionFair14 devs · median $3.7k · 22 announced
  2. + Female ProtagonistFair9 devs · median $3.6k · 12 announced
  3. + Tactical RPGFair9 devs · median $1.8k · 15 announced
  4. + WarFair34 devs · median $1.3k · 42 announced
  5. + Walking SimulatorFair16 devs · median $598 · 20 announced
  6. + SportsFair8 devs · median $479 · 9 announced
  7. + DiplomacyLong shot7 devs · median $360 · 14 announced
  8. + MilitaryPoor odds18 devs · median $6.3k · 39 announced
  9. + Online Co-OpPoor odds18 devs · median $4.9k · 63 announced
  10. + Strategy RPGPoor odds8 devs · median $4.9k · 21 announced
  11. + SandboxPoor odds86 devs · median $4.6k · 213 announced
  12. + Colony SimPoor odds42 devs · median $4.6k · 91 announced

All 114 pairs on the Space Sim page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Dune: Imperium 2024 · $2.6M Farlands 2026 · $879k Underspace 2024 · EA · $260k Sector Space 2025 · EA · $32k Space Station Tycoon 2023 · $28k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Dune: Imperium older $22.99 3,806 94% 114k $2.6M (exactly $2,624,998) Dire Wolf
Farlands $17.99 1,628 89% 49k $879k (exactly $878,632) JanduSoft, Eric Rodríguez
Underspace · EA older $19.99 434 81% 13k $260k (exactly $260,270) Pastaspace Interactive
Sector Space · EA $7.49 144 93% 4.3k $32k (exactly $32,357) Robin M. Farrell
Space Station Tycoon older $4.99 190 56% 5.7k $28k (exactly $28,443) Lunheim Studios
TAXINAUT $19.99 39 87% 1.2k $23k (exactly $23,388) mosgrom
Become Emperor! My Trillion Beauties Planet Empire $39.99 6 16% 180 $7.2k (exactly $7,198) 万亿美女星球工程设计研究院, Trillion Beauties Planet… (万亿美女星球工程设计研究院, Trillion Beauties Planet Engineering Design Institute)
Cam Star! $4.99 41 68% 1.2k $6.1k (exactly $6,138) PINKU!
たんぽぽプラネット-Dandelion Planet- $12.99 14 100% 420 $5.5k (exactly $5,456) Mareffy, Mareffy's games
Putin Destroys Alien older $4.90 37 91% 1.1k $5.4k (exactly $5,439) Boris the Bear
The EverFloating Island $19.99 6 33% 180 $3.6k (exactly $3,598) GU GAMES
Cosmolace $6.99 16 93% 480 $3.4k (exactly $3,355) CCyoltose
Nanoplanet Survivors $3.99 12 83% 360 $1.4k (exactly $1,436) Zac Marvin
Alien Battlefield $9.99 4 0% 120 $1.2k (exactly $1,199) TapfunGame

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