Do I ship it?

Games › Flight › Flight + Procedural Generation

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Procedural Generation Flight game?

Flight + Procedural Generation

Of 39 developers who shipped a Procedural Generation Flight 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.. 59 more are announced, ×3.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $360, ×0.6 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $50. 59 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.7 per shipper, while revenue is up 500% on the market.

Deciding numbers: median 0.6 times the market baseline, revenue up 500% on the market, 59 announced, ×3.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Flight + Procedural Generation
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 39
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.2k → $17k → $180 → $597 → $2.3k → $1.8k → $1.2k (still earning) → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Flight + Procedural Generation: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 39
Bottom 30% $0 (exactly $0)
Median $360 (exactly $360)
Top 25% $3.5k (exactly $3,528)
Top 5% $746k (exactly $745,952)
Developers, 2 yr 39
Released games 164
Announced 59
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $6.99

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 500% on the market, supply 30% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 12%, 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.

Flight
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Procedural Generation
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
Flight, Procedural Generation; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Simulation, Exploration
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Atmospheric, First-Person
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 83% positive over 5,371 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $50, median $360, 1 in 4 over $3.5k, 1 in 20 over $740k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. 9 in 10 of the 25 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 59 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.7 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Choose Your Own AdventureFair9 devs · median $2.4k · 11 announced
  2. + Hidden ObjectFair9 devs · median $1.3k · 10 announced
  3. + Quick-Time EventsFair9 devs · median $657 · 9 announced
  4. + CatsFair6 devs · median $629 · 10 announced
  5. + Life SimPoor odds12 devs · median $70k · 29 announced
  6. + TradingPoor odds6 devs · median $36k · 21 announced
  7. + MiningPoor odds10 devs · median $35k · 13 announced
  8. + CraftingPoor odds14 devs · median $19k · 57 announced
  9. + Base BuildingPoor odds23 devs · median $17k · 48 announced
  10. + EconomyPoor odds20 devs · median $15k · 45 announced
  11. + RTSPoor odds14 devs · median $15k · 18 announced
  12. + Cold WarPoor odds10 devs · median $11k · 16 announced

All 132 pairs on the Flight page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Transport Fever 2 2019 · $32M SpaceEngine 2019 · EA · $14M Transport Fever 2016 · $8.3M 《蜀山：初章》买断版 2022 · $4.3M Ostranauts 2026 · $1.9M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Transport Fever 2 older $39.99 26,714 89% 801k $32M (exactly $32,048,786) Urban Games
SpaceEngine · EA older $29.99 15,826 96% 475k $14M (exactly $14,238,652) Cosmographic Software
Transport Fever older $29.99 9,278 82% 278k $8.3M (exactly $8,347,417) Urban Games
《蜀山：初章》买断版 older $24.99 5,772 74% 173k $4.3M (exactly $4,327,268) 重楼工作室
Ostranauts $19.99 3,137 77% 94k $1.9M (exactly $1,881,259) Blue Bottle Games
Flyout · EA older $19.99 2,137 83% 64k $1.3M (exactly $1,281,559) Stonext Games
Superflight older $2.99 11,047 96% 331k $991k (exactly $990,916) GrizzlyGames
Approximately Up $24.99 995 93% 30k $746k (exactly $745,952) Approximately Games
Sky Rogue older $19.99 1,059 92% 32k $635k (exactly $635,082) Fractal Phase
Mini Airways - ATC simulator older $9.99 1,339 92% 40k $401k (exactly $401,298) CCC Games, Erabit
Desecrators $14.99 327 96% 9.8k $147k (exactly $147,052) Woodhound
TOP DOG $9.99 263 88% 7.9k $79k (exactly $78,821) MorfeoDev
BEHEMOTH $3.99 412 88% 12k $49k (exactly $49,316) The Behemoth
Bush 1022 $6.15 95 98% 2.9k $18k (exactly $17,528) dimitars
Hijong Park's Defender Patrol $4.99 72 98% 2.2k $11k (exactly $10,778) Hijong Park
Wrath and Retribution $9.99 23 91% 690 $6.9k (exactly $6,893) Mad Vulture Games
Calm Skies: The Wingsuit Flying Experience $4.99 35 91% 1.1k $5.2k (exactly $5,240) Flashblack Games
✈️Velocity Wings✈️ $9.80 12 91% 360 $3.5k (exactly $3,528) ZhiFeng Games

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