Games › Sandbox › Sandbox + Female Protagonist
Should I ship a Female-Led Sandbox?
Sandbox + Female Protagonist
Of 69 developers who shipped a Female-Led Sandbox 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.. 128 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $5.7k, ×9.1 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.2k; 1 in 20 cleared $1.0M, ×1597 the market median. Revenue is down 80% on the market; 128 games are announced against 46 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.2k (exactly $1,166) |
|---|---|
| Median | $5.7k (exactly $5,694) |
| Top 25% | $54k (exactly $53,514) |
| Top 5% | $1.0M (exactly $1,002,698) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 69 |
| Released games | 223 |
| Announced | 128 |
| Effort | 6 / 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 down 80% on the market, supply 85% 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.
- Sandbox
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Female Protagonist
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Sandbox; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Exploration, Adventure, Open World
- Price point
- $12.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Atmospheric, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $12.99.
The top 10 games average 89% positive over 10,856 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.2k. 6 in 10 of the 29 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 128 games are announced against 46 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Sandbox with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FightingStrong odds
- + Turn-BasedFair
- + World War IIFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + ProgrammingFair
- + CatsFair
- + SportsFair
- + GamblingFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + Combat RacingFair
- + Trading Card GameFair
- + IdlerFair
Comparable games
Slime Rancher 2017 · $84M 
Saints Row IV: Re-Elected 2013 · $34M 
My Time at Portia 2019 · $31M 
My Time at Sandrock 2023 · $29M 
BONELAB 2022 · $22M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Slime Rancher | older | $19.99 | 139,509 98% | 4.2M | $84M (exactly $83,663,547) | Monomi Park |
| | Saints Row IV: Re-Elected | older | $19.99 | 57,525 87% | 1.7M | $34M (exactly $34,497,742) | Deep Silver Volition |
| | My Time at Portia | older | $29.99 | 34,844 91% | 1.0M | $31M (exactly $31,349,147) | Pathea Games |
| | My Time at Sandrock | older | $39.99 | 24,110 88% | 723k | $29M (exactly $28,924,767) | Pathea Games |
| | BONELAB | older | $39.99 | 18,670 82% | 560k | $22M (exactly $22,398,399) | Stress Level Zero |
 | Saints Row: The Third | older | $9.99 | 48,877 95% | 1.5M | $15M (exactly $14,648,437) | Volition |
 | Evil Genius 2: World Domination | older | $39.99 | 11,255 69% | 338k | $14M (exactly $13,502,624) | Rebellion |
 | Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak | older | $49.99 | 7,800 79% | 234k | $12M (exactly $11,697,660) | Blackbird Interactive |
 | Cooking Simulator | older | $19.99 | 17,837 84% | 535k | $11M (exactly $10,696,849) | Big Cheese Studio |
 | Farm Together | older | $19.99 | 17,647 93% | 529k | $11M (exactly $10,582,906) | Milkstone Studios |
 | Wicked Island | · EA | $34.99 | 1,194 76% | 36k | $1.3M (exactly $1,253,342) | RawDarkness |
 | AETHUS | $19.99 | 2,030 94% | 61k | $1.2M (exactly $1,217,391) | Pawsmonaut Games | |
 | Goat Simulator: Remastered | $29.99 | 1,162 88% | 35k | $1.0M (exactly $1,045,451) | Coffee Stain Studios, Coffee Stain Nort… (Coffee Stain Studios, Coffee Stain North, Deep Silver Fishlabs) | |
 | Skin Deep | $19.99 | 1,672 94% | 50k | $1.0M (exactly $1,002,698) | Blendo Games | |
 | Little Rocket Lab | $19.99 | 1,286 90% | 39k | $771k (exactly $771,214) | Teenage Astronauts | |
 | Sapphire Safari | · EA | $12.99 | 1,653 92% | 50k | $644k (exactly $644,174) | Kinky Fridays |
 | Bobo Bay | $24.99 | 770 95% | 23k | $577k (exactly $577,269) | NewFutureKids | |
 | Under The Island | $19.99 | 446 92% | 13k | $267k (exactly $267,466) | Slime King Games | |
 | Cabin Crew Life Simulator | · EA | $12.99 | 505 70% | 15k | $197k (exactly $196,798) | SOGA Std |
 | Honeycomb: The World Beyond | $29.99 | 138 65% | 4.1k | $124k (exactly $124,159) | Frozen Way |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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