Do I ship it?

GamesGod GameGod Game + Procedural Generation

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Procedural Generation God Game?

God Game + Procedural Generation

Of 40 developers who shipped a Procedural Generation God 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.. 69 more are announced, ×2.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $4.7k, ×7.4 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $630; 1 in 20 cleared $360k, ×587 the market median. Revenue is down 85% on the market; 69 games are announced against 27 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 7.4 times the market baseline, revenue down 85% on the market, 69 announced, ×2.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
God Game + Procedural Generation
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 40
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $131k → $208 → $3.7k → $9.9k → $20k → $6.8k → $1.6k (still earning) → $1.8k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for God Game + Procedural Generation: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 40
Bottom 30% $628 (exactly $628)
Median $4.7k (exactly $4,672)
Top 25% $71k (exactly $70,765)
Top 5% $369k (exactly $368,877)
Developers, 2 yr 40
Released games 114
Announced 69
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $8.99

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 85% on the market, supply 110% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 4%, 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.

God Game
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 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
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
God Game, Procedural Generation; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Sandbox, Simulation, Management
Price point
$8.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Relaxing, 2D, Atmospheric
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.

The top 10 games average 83% positive over 5,186 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $630, median $4.7k, 1 in 4 over $70k, 1 in 20 over $360k.

3 in 10 developers made under $630. 5 in 10 of the 13 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 69 games are announced against 27 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + HistoricalFair19 devs · median $12k · 28 announced
  2. + EconomyFair47 devs · median $2.8k · 58 announced
  3. + PuzzleFair27 devs · median $1.2k · 30 announced
  4. + Inventory ManagementFair16 devs · median $1.1k · 15 announced
  5. + DestructionFair19 devs · median $899 · 20 announced
  6. + DystopianFair14 devs · median $898 · 10 announced
  7. + IdlerFair91 devs · median $839 · 95 announced
  8. + IncrementalFair79 devs · median $807 · 71 announced
  9. + ArcadeLong shot17 devs · median $390 · 20 announced
  10. + Farming SimLong shot22 devs · median $359 · 24 announced
  11. + AgricultureLong shot9 devs · median $180 · 7 announced
  12. + Base BuildingPoor odds37 devs · median $28k · 77 announced

All 96 pairs on the God Game page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
WorldBox - God Simulator · EA older $19.99 51,071 95% 1.5M $31M (exactly $30,627,279) Maxim Karpenko
The Universim older $29.99 8,465 79% 254k $7.6M (exactly $7,615,960) Crytivo
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
The Sapling · EA older $17.99 1,922 89% 58k $1.0M (exactly $1,037,303) Wessel Stoop
Fantasy Map Simulator · EA older $7.99 4,190 89% 126k $1.0M (exactly $1,004,343) The Stranger
Gold Gold Adventure Gold $24.99 907 70% 27k $680k (exactly $679,978) Can Can Can a Man
FlowScape older $14.99 1,230 84% 37k $553k (exactly $553,131) Pixel Forest Games
The Fermi Paradox · EA older $18.99 956 76% 29k $545k (exactly $544,633) Anomaly Games
Solar 2 older $9.99 1,574 91% 47k $472k (exactly $471,728) Murudai
Fata Deum - The God Sim · EA $29.99 410 59% 12k $369k (exactly $368,877) 42 Bits Entertainment
Ecosystem $19.99 601 76% 18k $360k (exactly $360,420) Tom Johnson
Planetary Life · EA $11.99 912 94% 27k $328k (exactly $328,046) Sotenbox
Preserve $12.49 690 92% 21k $259k (exactly $258,543) Bitmap Galaxy
Sinner Maker · EA $9.66 545 91% 16k $158k (exactly $157,941) Pantokrator
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
PolyPine $8.99 368 95% 11k $99k (exactly $99,250) Cloudberry Pine
Goblin Camp $19.99 118 76% 3.5k $71k (exactly $70,765) Korppi Games Ltd

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