Games › Management › Management + Gambling
Should I ship a Gambling Management game?
Management + Gambling
Of 51 developers who shipped a Gambling Management 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.. 102 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $5.9k, ×9.4 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $480; 1 in 20 cleared $2.0M, ×3315 the market median. Revenue is up 190% on the market; 102 games are announced against 36 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $478 (exactly $478) |
|---|---|
| Median | $5.9k (exactly $5,920) |
| Top 25% | $113k (exactly $112,875) |
| Top 5% | $2.1M (exactly $2,081,902) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 51 |
| Released games | 96 |
| Announced | 102 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $5.99 |
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 190% on the market, supply 125% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 19%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Management
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Gambling
- effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Management, Gambling; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Economy, Resource Management
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Pixel Graphics, 3D, Relaxing
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 80% positive over 64,113 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $480. 7 in 10 of the 20 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 102 games are announced against 36 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Management with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + RomeFair
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + WesternFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + JRPGFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + RhythmFair
- + UnderwaterFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + DwarvesFair
- + 3D FighterFair
- + IncrementalFair
Comparable games
NBA 2K25 2024 · $65M 
NBA 2K26 2025 · $54M 
NBA 2K27 2026 · $3.6M 
Scritchy Scratchy 2026 · $3.2M 
Cricket 22 2021 · $2.3M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | NBA 2K25 | older | $69.99 | 30,969 60% | 929k | $65M (exactly $65,025,609) | Visual Concepts |
| | NBA 2K26 | $69.99 | 25,651 66% | 770k | $54M (exactly $53,859,405) | Visual Concepts | |
| | NBA 2K27 | $69.99 | 1,698 53% | 51k | $3.6M (exactly $3,565,291) | Visual Concepts | |
| | Scritchy Scratchy | $6.99 | 15,245 94% | 457k | $3.2M (exactly $3,196,876) | Lunch Money Games | |
| | Cricket 22 | older | $44.99 | 1,717 81% | 52k | $2.3M (exactly $2,317,435) | Big Ant Studios |
 | Bills Must Be Paid | $6.99 | 9,928 96% | 298k | $2.1M (exactly $2,081,902) | Rike Games | |
 | STONKS-9800: Stock Market Simulator | · EA older | $9.99 | 3,124 95% | 94k | $936k (exactly $936,263) | TERNOX |
 | Fortune Mill | $7.99 | 3,712 81% | 111k | $890k (exactly $889,766) | Lavaflame2 | |
 | Horsey Game | $9.99 | 2,911 97% | 87k | $872k (exactly $872,427) | Captain Games | |
 | Tharsis | older | $14.99 | 1,438 71% | 43k | $647k (exactly $646,669) | Choice Provisions |
 | Gamblers Table | $6.99 | 2,955 74% | 89k | $620k (exactly $619,664) | greenpixels, Bossforge | |
 | The House Always Wins | $12.99 | 866 85% | 26k | $337k (exactly $337,480) | Toxic Studio | |
 | Space Warlord Baby Trading Simulator | $19.99 | 513 91% | 15k | $308k (exactly $307,646) | Strange Scaffold | |
 | Ultimate Theater Simulator | $12.99 | 634 88% | 19k | $247k (exactly $247,070) | RAKTWO Games, steelbox Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.