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Should I ship a Mining Management game?
Management + Mining
Of 143 developers who shipped a Mining Management 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.. 230 more are announced, ×2.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $5.3k, ×8.4 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.7k; 1 in 20 cleared $670k, ×1076 the market median. Revenue is up 100% on the market; 230 games are announced against 113 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.7k (exactly $1,678) |
|---|---|
| Median | $5.3k (exactly $5,273) |
| Top 25% | $52k (exactly $51,536) |
| Top 5% | $676k (exactly $675,704) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 143 |
| Released games | 249 |
| Announced | 230 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 100% on the market, supply 240% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 9%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Management
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Mining
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Management, Mining; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Resource Management, Simulation, Strategy
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Relaxing, Colorful
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 37,169 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.7k. 7 in 10 of the 36 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 230 games are announced against 113 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.0 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Management with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + RomeFair
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + WesternFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + JRPGFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + RhythmFair
- + UnderwaterFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + DwarvesFair
- + 3D FighterFair
- + IncrementalFair
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Captain of Industry | · EA older | $34.99 | 11,027 90% | 331k | $12M (exactly $11,575,042) | MaFi Games |
| | Gold Mining Simulator | older | $19.99 | 15,132 72% | 454k | $9.1M (exactly $9,074,660) | Code Horizon |
| | Stationeers | · EA older | $34.99 | 8,597 88% | 258k | $9.0M (exactly $9,024,271) | RocketWerkz |
| | Turmoil | older | $12.99 | 13,154 92% | 395k | $5.1M (exactly $5,126,114) | Gamious |
| | Lightyear Frontier | · EA older | $24.99 | 4,257 83% | 128k | $3.2M (exactly $3,191,473) | FRAME BREAK |
| | Out of Ore | older | $24.99 | 3,978 85% | 119k | $3.0M (exactly $2,982,307) | North Modding Company AB |
| | SpaceBourne 2 | $19.99 | 4,951 75% | 149k | $3.0M (exactly $2,969,115) | Burak Dabak | |
| | CryoFall | older | $19.99 | 4,905 78% | 147k | $2.9M (exactly $2,941,528) | AtomicTorch Studio |
| | Wall World | older | $6.99 | 11,353 90% | 341k | $2.4M (exactly $2,380,724) | Alawar |
| | Automation Empire | older | $29.99 | 2,584 65% | 78k | $2.3M (exactly $2,324,825) | DOG HOGGLER |
| | MineMogul | · EA | $14.99 | 4,330 96% | 130k | $1.9M (exactly $1,947,201) | NoodleForge (Gvarados & Diomonder) |
| | Starminer | · EA | $29.99 | 1,818 72% | 55k | $1.6M (exactly $1,635,655) | CoolAndGoodGames |
| | Keep on Mining! | $4.99 | 8,300 93% | 249k | $1.2M (exactly $1,242,510) | EagleEye Games | |
| | The Last Starship | $19.99 | 1,623 75% | 49k | $973k (exactly $973,313) | Introversion Software | |
| | A Game About Feeding A Black Hole | $6.99 | 3,467 88% | 104k | $727k (exactly $727,030) | Aarimous, Thornity | |
| | Digseum | $2.99 | 8,033 97% | 241k | $721k (exactly $720,560) | Rat Monthly | |
| | Solar Expanse - Space Exploration Manager | · EA | $17.99 | 1,252 87% | 38k | $676k (exactly $675,704) | SpaceOps |
| | Ore Factory Squad ⛏️ | $12.99 | 1,646 87% | 49k | $641k (exactly $641,446) | threeW | |
| | Wall World 2 | $11.99 | 1,749 73% | 52k | $629k (exactly $629,115) | Alawar |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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