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Should I ship a God Game Sandbox?
Sandbox + God Game
Of 103 developers who shipped a God Game Sandbox 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.. 157 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.4k, ×2.3 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $360k, ×574 the market median. Revenue is down 75% on the market; 157 games are announced against 63 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $359 (exactly $359) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.4k (exactly $1,438) |
| Top 25% | $21k (exactly $21,407) |
| Top 5% | $360k (exactly $360,420) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 103 |
| Released games | 355 |
| Announced | 157 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 75% on the market, supply 55% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 7%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Sandbox, God Game; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Management, Strategy
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Relaxing, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 77% positive over 20,605 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $360. 7 in 10 of the 44 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 157 games are announced against 63 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Sandbox with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FightingStrong odds
- + Turn-BasedFair
- + World War IIFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + ProgrammingFair
- + CatsFair
- + SportsFair
- + GamblingFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + Combat RacingFair
- + Trading Card GameFair
- + IdlerFair
Comparable games
Planet Coaster 2016 · $80M 
SPORE™ 2008 · $40M 
WorldBox - God Simulator 2021 · EA · $31M 
Universe Sandbox 2015 · EA · $25M 
Planet Coaster 2 2024 · $20M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Planet Coaster | older | $44.99 | 59,443 91% | 1.8M | $80M (exactly $80,230,217) | Frontier Developments, Aspyr (Mac) |
| | SPORE™ | older | $19.99 | 66,871 92% | 2.0M | $40M (exactly $40,102,539) | Maxis™ |
| | WorldBox - God Simulator | · EA older | $19.99 | 51,071 95% | 1.5M | $31M (exactly $30,627,279) | Maxim Karpenko |
| | Universe Sandbox | · EA older | $29.99 | 27,843 96% | 835k | $25M (exactly $25,050,347) | Giant Army |
| | Planet Coaster 2 | $49.99 | 13,047 74% | 391k | $20M (exactly $19,566,586) | Frontier Developments | |
 | 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 |
 | War for the Overworld | older | $29.99 | 6,495 85% | 195k | $5.8M (exactly $5,843,552) | Brightrock Games |
 | SimCity™ 4 Deluxe Edition | older | $19.99 | 8,495 81% | 255k | $5.1M (exactly $5,094,452) | EA - Maxis, Aspyr (Mac) |
 | Gold Gold Adventure Gold | $24.99 | 907 70% | 27k | $680k (exactly $679,978) | Can Can Can a Man | |
 | Dungeon Tycoon | $14.99 | 1,472 78% | 44k | $662k (exactly $661,958) | Lunheim 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 |
 | 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 |
 | Doodle Empires | · EA | $6.99 | 1,279 92% | 38k | $268k (exactly $268,206) | Turtle Stack Games |
 | 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 |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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