Games › Life Sim › Life Sim + Trading
Should I ship a Trading Life Sim?
Life Sim + Trading
Of 172 developers who shipped a Trading 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.. 288 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $13k, ×28 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $3.3k; 1 in 20 cleared $1.3M, ×2774 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 288 games are announced against 106 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $3.2k (exactly $3,232) |
|---|---|
| Median | $13k (exactly $13,167) |
| Top 25% | $60k (exactly $60,404) |
| Top 5% | $1.3M (exactly $1,317,438) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 172 |
| Released games | 316 |
| Announced | 288 |
| Effort | 4 / 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 flat on the market, supply 45% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 16%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Life Sim, Trading; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Immersive Sim, Management
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, 3D, Realistic
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 84% positive over 200,458 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $3.3k. 6 in 10 of the 94 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 288 games are announced against 106 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Life Sim with a different second tag, 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
Supermarket Simulator 2025 · $48M 
TCG Card Shop Simulator 2026 · $28M 
Potion Craft: Alchemist Simulator 2022 · $23M 
Car For Sale Simulator 2024 · $10M 
The Guild 3 2022 · $6.4M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Supermarket Simulator | $19.99 | 79,236 92% | 2.4M | $48M (exactly $47,517,829) | Nokta Games | |
| | TCG Card Shop Simulator | $19.99 | 47,357 96% | 1.4M | $28M (exactly $28,399,993) | OPNeon Games | |
| | Potion Craft: Alchemist Simulator | older | $19.99 | 37,870 92% | 1.1M | $23M (exactly $22,710,639) | niceplay games |
| | Car For Sale Simulator | $16.99 | 20,229 78% | 607k | $10M (exactly $10,310,721) | Red Axe Games | |
| | The Guild 3 | older | $29.99 | 7,120 60% | 214k | $6.4M (exactly $6,405,864) | Purple Lamp, GolemLabs |
 | Car Dealer Simulator | $19.99 | 9,831 88% | 295k | $5.9M (exactly $5,895,651) | Garage Monkeys | |
 | Tiny Bookshop | $19.99 | 6,967 96% | 209k | $4.2M (exactly $4,178,110) | neoludic games | |
 | BidKing | $2.99 | 22,238 33% | 667k | $2.0M (exactly $1,994,749) | MindSurge Network & Games | |
 | Ostranauts | $19.99 | 3,137 77% | 94k | $1.9M (exactly $1,881,259) | Blue Bottle Games | |
 | Roadside Research | · EA | $14.99 | 3,991 85% | 120k | $1.8M (exactly $1,794,753) | Cybernetic Walrus |
 | Mall Simulator | · EA | $13.99 | 3,139 82% | 94k | $1.3M (exactly $1,317,438) | F13 Games |
 | Old Market Simulator | $9.99 | 4,333 87% | 130k | $1.3M (exactly $1,298,600) | Alcedo Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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