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Should I ship a Level Editor Sandbox?
Sandbox + Level Editor
Of 128 developers who shipped a Level Editor 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.. 216 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $3.0k, ×4.8 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $480; 1 in 20 cleared $410k, ×664 the market median. Revenue is down 25% on the market; 216 games are announced against 80 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $478 (exactly $478) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.0k (exactly $2,997) |
| Top 25% | $36k (exactly $36,189) |
| Top 5% | $417k (exactly $416,917) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 128 |
| Released games | 412 |
| Announced | 216 |
| 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 25% 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 medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Sandbox
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Level Editor
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Sandbox, Level Editor; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Building
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 48,639 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $480. 7 in 10 of the 57 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 216 games are announced against 80 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 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
Timberborn 2026 · $40M 
Besiege 2020 · $22M 
VTOL VR 2017 · $18M 
Train Simulator Classic 2015 · $18M 
Forts 2017 · $9.5M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Timberborn | $34.99 | 38,529 95% | 1.2M | $40M (exactly $40,443,891) | Mechanistry | |
| | Besiege | older | $14.99 | 48,045 95% | 1.4M | $22M (exactly $21,605,836) | Spiderling Studios |
| | VTOL VR | older | $29.99 | 19,885 98% | 597k | $18M (exactly $17,890,534) | Boundless Dynamics, LLC |
| | Train Simulator Classic | older | $29.99 | 19,461 73% | 584k | $18M (exactly $17,509,062) | Dovetail Games |
| | Forts | older | $14.99 | 21,216 92% | 636k | $9.5M (exactly $9,540,835) | EarthWork Games |
 | Mindustry | older | $9.99 | 24,608 95% | 738k | $7.4M (exactly $7,375,018) | AnukenDev |
 | Golf It! | older | $8.99 | 24,695 90% | 741k | $6.7M (exactly $6,660,242) | Perfuse Entertainment |
 | GoreBox | older | $8.99 | 23,130 84% | 694k | $6.2M (exactly $6,238,161) | F2Games |
 | Nuclear Option | · EA older | $19.99 | 10,275 95% | 308k | $6.2M (exactly $6,161,917) | Shockfront Studios |
 | Parkitect | older | $29.99 | 6,809 94% | 204k | $6.1M (exactly $6,126,057) | Texel Raptor |
 | s&box | $9.99 | 5,118 46% | 154k | $1.5M (exactly $1,533,865) | Facepunch Studios | |
 | Citadelum | $24.99 | 1,005 83% | 30k | $753k (exactly $753,448) | Abylight Barcelona | |
 | Creeper World IXE | $19.99 | 855 69% | 26k | $513k (exactly $512,743) | Knuckle Cracker | |
 | Turbo Dismount® 2 | $19.99 | 753 95% | 23k | $452k (exactly $451,574) | Secret Exit Ltd. | |
 | Wreckreation | $39.99 | 360 63% | 11k | $432k (exactly $431,892) | Three Fields Entertainment | |
 | Train Sim World® 7 | $49.99 | 278 74% | 8.3k | $417k (exactly $416,917) | Dovetail Games | |
 | Replicube | $9.99 | 709 96% | 21k | $212k (exactly $212,487) | Walaber Entertainment LLC | |
 | Hometopia | $8.99 | 777 57% | 23k | $210k (exactly $209,557) | Hometopia Inc. | |
 | Overthrown | $24.99 | 255 55% | 7.7k | $191k (exactly $191,174) | Brimstone |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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