Do I ship it?

GamesFlightFlight + Transportation

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Transportation Flight game?

Flight + Transportation

Of 27 developers who shipped a Transportation 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.. 43 more are announced, ×2.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $2.7k, ×4.3 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $720; 1 in 20 cleared $190k, ×313 the market median. Revenue is down 35% on the market; 43 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 4.3 times the market baseline, revenue down 35% on the market, 43 announced, ×2.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Flight + Transportation
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 27
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $8.9k → $899 → $58k → $1.8k → $5.7k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Flight + Transportation: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 27
Bottom 30% $718 (exactly $718)
Median $2.7k (exactly $2,699)
Top 25% $23k (exactly $22,603)
Top 5% $197k (exactly $196,798)
Developers, 2 yr 27
Released games 75
Announced 43
Effort 6 / 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 down 35% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 15%, 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
Transportation
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 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, Transportation; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Exploration, Sandbox
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Atmospheric, Top-Down
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 94% positive over 10,650 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $720, median $2.7k, 1 in 4 over $22k, 1 in 20 over $190k.

3 in 10 developers made under $720. 8 in 10 of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 43 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 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

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
Transport Fever older $29.99 9,278 82% 278k $8.3M (exactly $8,347,417) Urban Games
Airport CEO older $24.99 7,752 83% 233k $5.8M (exactly $5,811,674) Apog Labs
Aviassembly · EA $9.99 9,323 96% 280k $2.8M (exactly $2,794,103) Jelle Booij
Tower! Simulator 3 older $59.99 1,047 67% 31k $1.9M (exactly $1,884,286) FeelThere
Fly Corp older $14.99 3,112 85% 93k $1.4M (exactly $1,399,466) KishMish Games
I am an Air Traffic Controller 4 older $59.99 566 79% 17k $1.0M (exactly $1,018,630) TechnoBrain
Frontier Pilot Simulator older $24.99 836 69% 25k $627k (exactly $626,749) RAZAR s.r.o.
Flight Of Nova · EA older $29.99 537 93% 16k $483k (exactly $483,139) Aerovery Lab
Mini Airways - ATC simulator older $9.99 1,339 92% 40k $401k (exactly $401,298) CCC Games, Erabit
Cabin Crew Life Simulator · EA $12.99 505 70% 15k $197k (exactly $196,798) SOGA Std
Lakehopper · EA $9.99 479 88% 14k $144k (exactly $143,556) Photon Games
Terminal One $19.99 96 66% 2.9k $58k (exactly $57,571) Terminal Reality
ATC Ground Point $15.99 77 81% 2.3k $37k (exactly $36,937) Blueon
TAXINAUT $19.99 39 87% 1.2k $23k (exactly $23,388) mosgrom
SKYSAVIOR Helicopter Services · EA $12.99 58 100% 1.7k $23k (exactly $22,603) Raphael do Amaral de Albuquerque
Airline Ops · EA $14.99 37 29% 1.1k $17k (exactly $16,639) Smoky Bay Studio
Void Cargo: Equilibrium $12.99 20 70% 600 $7.8k (exactly $7,794) Hammer&Hammer
Pocket and Zooom $15.99 16 75% 480 $7.7k (exactly $7,675) TechnoBrain

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