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Should I ship a God Game Open World game?
Open World + God Game
Of 33 developers who shipped a God Game Open World 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.. 45 more are announced, ×2.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $720, ×0.5 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180. 45 games are announced against 19 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 per shipper, while revenue is down 25% on the market.
| Bottom 30% | $179 (exactly $179) |
|---|---|
| Median | $718 (exactly $718) |
| Top 25% | $18k (exactly $17,810) |
| Top 5% | $556k (exactly $556,277) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 33 |
| Released games | 122 |
| Announced | 45 |
| Effort | 8 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $4.99 |
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 25% on the market, supply 35% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 9%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Open World
- effort 8 / 10 · low · effort 8 sits in the low band
- God Game
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 8 / 10 · online systems, open world
- Systems
- Open World, God Game; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Sandbox, Building
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Relaxing, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 83% positive over 3,703 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $180. 8 in 10 of the 15 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 45 games are announced against 19 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Open World with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + WuxiaFair
- + 4 Player LocalFair
- + VampiresFair
- + TrainsFair
- + FMVFair
- + GothicFair
- + MarsFair
- + TanksFair
- + FaithLong shot
- + DiplomacyPoor odds
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
- + Co-op CampaignPoor odds
Comparable games
SPORE™ 2008 · $40M 
Universe Sandbox 2015 · EA · $25M 
Craft The World 2014 · $8.6M 
The Universim 2024 · $7.6M 
Stonehearth 2018 · $6.4M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | SPORE™ | older | $19.99 | 66,871 92% | 2.0M | $40M (exactly $40,102,539) | Maxis™ |
| | Universe Sandbox | · EA older | $29.99 | 27,843 96% | 835k | $25M (exactly $25,050,347) | Giant Army |
| | Craft The World | older | $18.99 | 15,074 88% | 452k | $8.6M (exactly $8,587,658) | Dekovir Entertainment, Sibear Games |
| | The Universim | older | $29.99 | 8,465 79% | 254k | $7.6M (exactly $7,615,960) | Crytivo |
| | Stonehearth | older | $19.99 | 10,652 76% | 320k | $6.4M (exactly $6,388,004) | Radiant Entertainment |
 | SPORE™ Galactic Adventures | older | $19.99 | 7,249 89% | 217k | $4.3M (exactly $4,347,225) | EA - Maxis |
 | MMORPG Tycoon 2 | · EA older | $24.99 | 2,977 86% | 89k | $2.2M (exactly $2,231,857) | VectorStorm Pty Ltd |
 | Sapiens | · EA older | $24.99 | 2,052 80% | 62k | $1.5M (exactly $1,538,384) | Majic Jungle |
 | Everything | older | $14.99 | 3,189 83% | 96k | $1.4M (exactly $1,434,093) | David OReilly |
 | Stardeus | · EA older | $29.99 | 1,430 87% | 43k | $1.3M (exactly $1,286,571) | Kodo Linija |
 | I Am Jesus Christ | $19.99 | 1,486 87% | 45k | $891k (exactly $891,154) | Space Boat Studios | |
 | Roman Triumph: Survival City Builder | $24.99 | 742 83% | 22k | $556k (exactly $556,277) | Coreffect Interactive | |
 | Fata Deum - The God Sim | · EA | $29.99 | 410 59% | 12k | $369k (exactly $368,877) | 42 Bits Entertainment |
 | Terra Firma 2 | · EA | $19.99 | 200 92% | 6.0k | $120k (exactly $119,940) | Working as Intended |
 | Nature & Life - Drunk On Nectar | $14.99 | 263 87% | 7.9k | $118k (exactly $118,271) | Venugopalan Sreedharan | |
 | Pandora's Toybox | $9.99 | 372 83% | 11k | $111k (exactly $111,488) | BetaLab | |
 | Genesis of a Small God | $17.99 | 61 80% | 1.8k | $33k (exactly $32,922) | Pierre Nury | |
 | Plentiful | · EA | $9.99 | 79 91% | 2.4k | $24k (exactly $23,676) | GabberGames |
 | Governance | · EA | $17.99 | 33 66% | 990 | $18k (exactly $17,810) | Governance Studios |
 | Inspiral: Echoes of Gravity | $3.99 | 57 73% | 1.7k | $6.8k (exactly $6,823) | PcZ Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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