Games › Simulation › Simulation + Horses
Should I ship a Horse Simulation game?
Simulation + Horses
Of 46 developers who shipped a Horse Simulation 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.. 70 more are announced, ×2.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $7.0k, ×11 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.8k; 1 in 20 cleared $870k, ×1389 the market median. Revenue is down 35% on the market; 70 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.8k (exactly $1,799) |
|---|---|
| Median | $7.0k (exactly $7,036) |
| Top 25% | $103k (exactly $102,981) |
| Top 5% | $872k (exactly $872,427) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 46 |
| Released games | 154 |
| Announced | 70 |
| Effort | 6 / 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 down 35% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 8%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Simulation
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Horses
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Simulation; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Life Sim, Exploration, Sandbox
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, Realistic, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 9,900 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.8k. 7 in 10 of the 26 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 70 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Simulation with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Escape RoomStrong odds
- + World War IFair
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + PinballFair
- + Female ProtagonistFair
- + BirdsFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + MusicFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + ProgrammingFair
Comparable games
Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord 2022 · $346M 
Mount & Blade: Warband 2010 · $81M 
Farming Simulator 22 2021 · $42M 
Ranch Simulator: Build, Hunt, Farm 2023 · $31M 
Farm Together 2018 · $11M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord | older | $49.99 | 230,490 87% | 6.9M | $346M (exactly $345,665,853) | TaleWorlds Entertainment |
| | Mount & Blade: Warband | older | $19.99 | 135,425 97% | 4.1M | $81M (exactly $81,214,372) | TaleWorlds Entertainment |
| | Farming Simulator 22 | older | $19.99 | 69,477 93% | 2.1M | $42M (exactly $41,665,357) | GIANTS Software |
| | Ranch Simulator: Build, Hunt, Farm | older | $24.99 | 40,862 79% | 1.2M | $31M (exactly $30,634,241) | Toxic Dog |
| | Farm Together | older | $19.99 | 17,647 93% | 529k | $11M (exactly $10,582,906) | Milkstone Studios |
 | Rival Stars Horse Racing: Desktop Edition | older | $29.99 | 5,032 91% | 151k | $4.5M (exactly $4,527,290) | PikPok |
 | Mount & Blade: With Fire & Sword | older | $9.99 | 11,213 87% | 336k | $3.4M (exactly $3,360,536) | TaleWorlds Entertainment |
 | DEEEER Simulator: Your Average Everyday Deer Game | older | $14.99 | 4,443 92% | 133k | $2.0M (exactly $1,998,017) | Gibier Games |
 | The Ranch of Rivershine | $29.99 | 2,050 94% | 62k | $1.8M (exactly $1,844,385) | Cozy Bee Games | |
 | The Legend of Khiimori | · EA | $29.99 | 1,929 82% | 58k | $1.7M (exactly $1,735,521) | Aesir Interactive, NightinGames |
 | Horsey Game | $9.99 | 2,911 97% | 87k | $872k (exactly $872,427) | Captain Games | |
 | Saloon Simulator | · EA | $18.99 | 860 89% | 26k | $490k (exactly $489,942) | Glivi Games S.A. |
 | Unbridled: That Horse Game | · EA | $24.99 | 487 85% | 15k | $365k (exactly $365,104) | Mind Evotion Games |
 | Viking Frontiers | $19.99 | 537 51% | 16k | $322k (exactly $322,039) | BLUM Entertainment | |
 | Gaucho and the Grassland | $19.99 | 410 96% | 12k | $246k (exactly $245,877) | Epopeia Games | |
 | Full Stride | $34.99 | 208 61% | 6.2k | $218k (exactly $218,338) | Blue Bullet Inc. | |
 | Horse Racing Manager | · EA | $24.99 | 208 88% | 6.2k | $156k (exactly $155,938) | Sheep Meadow Road Games |
 | A Merchant's Promise | · EA | $14.99 | 300 86% | 9.0k | $135k (exactly $134,910) | Game Draft Studio |
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.