Games › Immersive Sim › Immersive Sim + Space Sim
Should I ship a Space Sim Immersive Sim?
Immersive Sim + Space Sim
Of 60 developers who shipped a Space Sim Immersive 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.. 144 more are announced, ×3.8 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 $120. 144 games are announced against 38 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.8 per shipper, while revenue is down 15% on the market.
| Bottom 30% | $120 (exactly $120) |
|---|---|
| Median | $719 (exactly $719) |
| Top 25% | $6.9k (exactly $6,886) |
| Top 5% | $60k (exactly $60,143) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 60 |
| Released games | 193 |
| Announced | 144 |
| Effort | 8 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 15% on the market, supply 65% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 15%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Immersive Sim
- effort 8 / 10 · low · effort 8 sits in the low band
- Space Sim
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 8 / 10 · online systems, open world
- Systems
- Immersive Sim, Space Sim; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Flight, Sandbox
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person, Realistic
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 81% positive over 5,280 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $120. Nearly all of the 30 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 144 games are announced against 38 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Immersive Sim with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Trading Card GameStrong odds
- + MinigamesStrong odds
- + WesternStrong odds
- + BoxingStrong odds
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + Asynchronous MultiplayerFair
- + Dating SimFair
- + RomanceFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + Visual NovelFair
- + Split ScreenFair
Comparable games
X4: Foundations 2018 · $38M 
Universe Sandbox 2015 · EA · $25M 
Star Trucker 2024 · $3.7M 
Ostranauts 2026 · $1.9M 
Mars Horizon 2020 · $1.7M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | X4: Foundations | older | $49.99 | 25,257 79% | 758k | $38M (exactly $37,877,923) | Egosoft |
| | Universe Sandbox | · EA older | $29.99 | 27,843 96% | 835k | $25M (exactly $25,050,347) | Giant Army |
| | Star Trucker | older | $24.99 | 4,928 77% | 148k | $3.7M (exactly $3,694,522) | Monster and Monster |
| | Ostranauts | $19.99 | 3,137 77% | 94k | $1.9M (exactly $1,881,259) | Blue Bottle Games | |
| | Mars Horizon | older | $19.99 | 2,757 84% | 83k | $1.7M (exactly $1,653,373) | Auroch Digital |
 | Reentry - A Space Flight Simulator | $34.99 | 1,319 97% | 40k | $1.4M (exactly $1,384,554) | Lyra Creative | |
 | ΔV: Rings of Saturn | older | $9.99 | 2,880 93% | 86k | $863k (exactly $863,136) | Kodera Software |
 | Tin Can | older | $19.99 | 1,073 85% | 32k | $643k (exactly $643,478) | Tin Can Studio |
 | Flight Of Nova | · EA older | $29.99 | 537 93% | 16k | $483k (exactly $483,139) | Aerovery Lab |
 | Meeple Station | older | $19.99 | 645 57% | 19k | $387k (exactly $386,806) | Gameclaw Studio |
 | Legendary Pilots | $8.99 | 223 66% | 6.7k | $60k (exactly $60,143) | BerkBox | |
 | Surviving Mars: Pioneer | $24.99 | 78 83% | 2.3k | $58k (exactly $58,477) | Bolverk Games | |
 | I Fetch Rocks | $15.99 | 110 94% | 3.3k | $53k (exactly $52,767) | SarumXR | |
 | In The Black | · EA | $19.99 | 84 72% | 2.5k | $50k (exactly $50,375) | Impeller Studios |
 | Lunar Ascendant | $14.99 | 86 44% | 2.6k | $39k (exactly $38,674) | Darts Games | |
 | Legitimate Space Corp Simulator LLC | $12.99 | 82 69% | 2.5k | $32k (exactly $31,955) | VHornet Games | |
 | Riftborne | · EA | $7.99 | 108 91% | 3.2k | $26k (exactly $25,888) | Pitio Productions |
 | Periapsis: Eclipse | · EA | $14.99 | 53 71% | 1.6k | $24k (exactly $23,834) | Skytrellis Games |
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.