Games › Immersive Sim › Immersive Sim + Transportation
Should I ship a Transportation Immersive Sim?
Immersive Sim + Transportation
Of 61 developers who shipped a Transportation 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.. 89 more are announced, ×2.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $19k, ×13 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $5.7k; 1 in 20 cleared $3.6M, ×2425 the market median. Revenue is up 10% on the market; 89 games are announced against 37 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $5.7k (exactly $5,694) |
|---|---|
| Median | $19k (exactly $19,190) |
| Top 25% | $284k (exactly $283,803) |
| Top 5% | $3.6M (exactly $3,632,692) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 61 |
| Released games | 163 |
| Announced | 89 |
| Effort | 8 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $12.99 |
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 10% on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 9%, 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
- Transportation
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 8 / 10 · online systems, open world
- Systems
- Immersive Sim, Transportation; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Automobile Sim, Driving
- Price point
- $12.99 typical · top 25% priced $39.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Realistic, First-Person, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $39.99 or above; the middle game at $12.99.
The top 10 games average 84% positive over 51,958 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $5.7k. 5 in 10 of the 29 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 89 games are announced against 37 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 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
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Euro Truck Simulator 2 | older | $19.99 | 756,984 97% | 23M | $454M (exactly $453,963,305) | SCS Software |
| | American Truck Simulator | older | $19.99 | 165,692 97% | 5.0M | $99M (exactly $99,365,492) | SCS Software |
| | Forza Motorsport | older | $69.99 | 12,148 51% | 364k | $26M (exactly $25,507,156) | Turn 10 |
| | RoadCraft | $39.99 | 13,527 74% | 406k | $16M (exactly $16,228,342) | Saber Interactive | |
| | Derail Valley | · EA older | $39.99 | 9,442 96% | 283k | $11M (exactly $11,327,567) | Altfuture |
| | Eco | · EA older | $29.99 | 11,375 80% | 341k | $10M (exactly $10,234,088) | Strange Loop Games |
| | My Winter Car | · EA | $14.99 | 18,614 94% | 558k | $8.4M (exactly $8,370,716) | Amistech Games |
| | Construction Simulator | older | $24.99 | 10,606 82% | 318k | $8.0M (exactly $7,951,318) | weltenbauer. Software Entwicklung GmbH |
| | Railway Empire | older | $29.99 | 7,219 82% | 217k | $6.5M (exactly $6,494,934) | Gaming Minds Studios |
| | Airport CEO | older | $24.99 | 7,752 83% | 233k | $5.8M (exactly $5,811,674) | Apog Labs |
| | SimRail - The Railway Simulator | $34.99 | 5,307 85% | 159k | $5.6M (exactly $5,570,758) | SimRail S.A. | |
| | Train Sim World® 6 | $49.99 | 2,485 78% | 75k | $3.7M (exactly $3,726,754) | Dovetail Games | |
| | Train Sim World® 5 | $39.99 | 3,028 80% | 91k | $3.6M (exactly $3,632,692) | Dovetail Games | |
| | Cheap Car Repair | $19.69 | 3,603 91% | 108k | $2.1M (exactly $2,128,292) | Little Dog Games | |
| | Seafarer: The Ship Sim | · EA | $34.99 | 1,921 64% | 58k | $2.0M (exactly $2,016,474) | astragon Development |
| | RUNNING TRAIN | 走ル列車! | · EA | $19.99 | 1,594 97% | 48k | $956k (exactly $955,922) | Novatetsu Games |
| | Ambulance Life: A Paramedic Simulator | $29.99 | 993 50% | 30k | $893k (exactly $893,402) | Aesir Interactive | |
| | Bus Bound | $29.99 | 886 72% | 27k | $797k (exactly $797,134) | stillalive studios |
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.