Do I ship it?

Games › Trading › Trading + Futuristic

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Futuristic Trading game?

Trading + Futuristic

Of 22 developers who shipped a Futuristic Trading 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.. 51 more are announced, ×3.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.2k, ×2.5 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $89k, ×189 the market median. Revenue is up 545% on the market; 51 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.5 times the market baseline, revenue up 545% on the market, 51 announced, ×3.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Trading + Futuristic
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 22
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $4.5k → $1.0k → $4.0k → $3.0k (still earning) → $1.2k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Trading + Futuristic: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 22
Bottom 30% $359 (exactly $359)
Median $1.2k (exactly $1,199)
Top 25% $15k (exactly $15,295)
Top 5% $90k (exactly $89,955)
Developers, 2 yr 22
Released games 50
Announced 51
Effort 4 / 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 up 545% on the market, supply 45% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 16%, 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.

Trading
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
Futuristic
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Trading; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Sandbox, Base Building, Building
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person
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 73% positive over 1,004 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $360, median $1.2k, 1 in 4 over $15k, 1 in 20 over $89k.

3 in 10 developers made under $360. 8 in 10 of the 14 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 51 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.9 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + MiningFair32 devs · median $12k · 33 announced
  2. + Score AttackFair13 devs · median $600 · 13 announced
  3. + MMORPGPoor odds6 devs · median $206k · 42 announced
  4. + Character CustomizationPoor odds26 devs · median $60k · 137 announced
  5. + Online Co-OpPoor odds23 devs · median $47k · 84 announced
  6. + Co-opPoor odds24 devs · median $47k · 82 announced
  7. + FlightPoor odds6 devs · median $36k · 21 announced
  8. + SportsPoor odds11 devs · median $34k · 14 announced
  9. + CollectathonPoor odds28 devs · median $30k · 65 announced
  10. + PhysicsPoor odds23 devs · median $27k · 71 announced
  11. + DrivingPoor odds23 devs · median $24k · 48 announced
  12. + LootPoor odds23 devs · median $23k · 60 announced

All 109 pairs on the Trading page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Anno 2205™ 2015 · $7.3M Anno 2070™ 2011 · $6.9M Starpoint Gemini 2 2014 · $3.2M Slipways 2021 · $1.1M Interstellar Rift 2020 · $846k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Anno 2205™ older $39.99 6,115 70% 183k $7.3M (exactly $7,336,166) Blue Byte
Anno 2070™ older $19.99 11,571 59% 347k $6.9M (exactly $6,939,129) Blue Byte, Related Designs
Starpoint Gemini 2 older $34.99 3,021 70% 91k $3.2M (exactly $3,171,144) Little Green Men Games
Slipways older $16.99 2,233 93% 67k $1.1M (exactly $1,138,160) Beetlewing
Interstellar Rift older $19.99 1,411 66% 42k $846k (exactly $846,177) Split Polygon
Dust to the End older $11.99 1,076 78% 32k $387k (exactly $387,037) Haojoy Game, Zjoy Game
Evochron Legacy SE older $24.99 415 82% 12k $311k (exactly $311,126) StarWraith 3D Games LLC
Stars Reach · EA $29.99 322 52% 9.7k $290k (exactly $289,703) Playable Worlds, Inc.
SPACERIFT: Arcanum System · EA older $12.90 413 77% 12k $160k (exactly $159,831) Arcanum Team
MegaFactory Titan $19.99 150 76% 4.5k $90k (exactly $89,955) Q Switched Productions, LLC
Chaos Express: Delivery Simulator · EA $13.37 116 77% 3.5k $47k (exactly $46,528) AVE Team
Minsgon Simulator $9.99 112 78% 3.4k $34k (exactly $33,566) Vokcen
Colony 37 · EA $2.99 224 95% 6.7k $20k (exactly $20,093) Valen
Globalism · EA $29.99 17 52% 510 $15k (exactly $15,295) igelanium games
Stellar outpost commander $8.99 30 83% 900 $8.1k (exactly $8,091) Kinderril
Exodus: The Colonization of Space $6.99 19 100% 570 $4.0k (exactly $3,984) Artex
New Stars $19.99 5 60% 150 $3.0k (exactly $2,998) adamjr
Gargantua $9.99 9 44% 270 $2.7k (exactly $2,697) Abdullah Furkan Doğan

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