Games › Life Sim › Life Sim + Historical
Should I ship a Historical Life Sim?
Life Sim + Historical
Of 49 developers who shipped a Historical Life Sim 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.. 103 more are announced, ×4.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $18k, ×29 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $2.3k; 1 in 20 cleared $1.4M, ×2341 the market median. Revenue is up 20% on the market; 103 games are announced against 23 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $2.2k (exactly $2,248) |
|---|---|
| Median | $18k (exactly $17,985) |
| Top 25% | $68k (exactly $68,032) |
| Top 5% | $1.5M (exactly $1,470,069) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 49 |
| Released games | 125 |
| Announced | 103 |
| Effort | 5 / 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 20% on the market, supply 10% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Life Sim
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Historical
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Life Sim; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, RPG, Adventure
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $28.00 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, Realistic
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $28.00 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 78% positive over 17,406 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $2.3k. 6 in 10 of the 29 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 103 games are announced against 23 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Life Sim with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + MinigamesStrong odds
- + MusicStrong odds
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + Football (Soccer)Fair
- + FaithFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + GamblingFair
- + DemonsFair
- + Point & ClickFair
- + LogicFair
- + ZombiesFair
Comparable games
Crusader Kings III 2020 · $142M 
Potion Craft: Alchemist Simulator 2022 · $23M 
Yes, Your Grace 2020 · $7.5M 
The Guild 3 2022 · $6.4M 
Sengoku Dynasty 2024 · $5.9M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Crusader Kings III | older | $49.99 | 94,615 90% | 2.8M | $142M (exactly $141,894,116) | Paradox Development Studio |
| | Potion Craft: Alchemist Simulator | older | $19.99 | 37,870 92% | 1.1M | $23M (exactly $22,710,639) | niceplay games |
| | Yes, Your Grace | older | $19.99 | 12,571 87% | 377k | $7.5M (exactly $7,538,829) | Brave At Night |
| | The Guild 3 | older | $29.99 | 7,120 60% | 214k | $6.4M (exactly $6,405,864) | Purple Lamp, GolemLabs |
| | Sengoku Dynasty | $29.99 | 6,592 74% | 198k | $5.9M (exactly $5,930,822) | Superkami | |
 | The Legend of Khiimori | · EA | $29.99 | 1,929 82% | 58k | $1.7M (exactly $1,735,521) | Aesir Interactive, NightinGames |
 | House of Legacy | · EA | $14.99 | 3,269 84% | 98k | $1.5M (exactly $1,470,069) | S3 Studio |
 | Yes, Your Grace 2: Snowfall | $24.99 | 1,488 76% | 45k | $1.1M (exactly $1,115,554) | Brave At Night | |
 | The Guild II Renaissance | older | $9.99 | 3,540 82% | 106k | $1.1M (exactly $1,060,938) | Runeforge Game Studio |
 | I Am Jesus Christ | $19.99 | 1,486 87% | 45k | $891k (exactly $891,154) | Space Boat Studios | |
 | Saloon Simulator | · EA | $18.99 | 860 89% | 26k | $490k (exactly $489,942) | Glivi Games S.A. |
 | Chinese Frontiers | $24.99 | 514 72% | 15k | $385k (exactly $385,346) | SolidGames | |
 | Viking Frontiers | $19.99 | 537 51% | 16k | $322k (exactly $322,039) | BLUM Entertainment | |
 | The End of History | · EA | $28.00 | 366 68% | 11k | $307k (exactly $307,440) | Tatamibeya |
 | Monarch : Medieval Remastered | $11.99 | 365 80% | 11k | $131k (exactly $131,290) | Mr.Lordy |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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