Do I ship it?

GamesManagementManagement + Political Sim

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Political Sim Management game?

Management + Political Sim

Of 118 developers who shipped a Political Sim 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.. 220 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $2.8k, ×4.5 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $700k, ×1121 the market median. Revenue is down 75% on the market; 220 games are announced against 79 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 4.5 times the market baseline, revenue down 75% on the market, 220 announced, ×2.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Management + Political Sim
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 118
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $47k → $424k → $6.3k → $4.9k → $1.5k → $6.0k → $3.0k (still earning) → $538 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Management + Political Sim: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 118
Bottom 30% $600 (exactly $600)
Median $2.8k (exactly $2,848)
Top 25% $29k (exactly $29,495)
Top 5% $704k (exactly $703,683)
Developers, 2 yr 118
Released games 301
Announced 220
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
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 75% on the market, supply 95% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 7%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

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
Political Sim
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Management, Political Sim; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Strategy, Economy
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 77% positive over 34,844 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $600, median $2.8k, 1 in 4 over $29k, 1 in 20 over $700k.

3 in 10 developers made under $600. 7 in 10 of the 48 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 220 games are announced against 79 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Management with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + RomeFair21 devs · median $64k · 23 announced
  2. + Job SimulatorFair195 devs · median $17k · 225 announced
  3. + WesternFair18 devs · median $13k · 22 announced
  4. + Artificial IntelligenceFair114 devs · median $12k · 154 announced
  5. + JRPGFair37 devs · median $9.4k · 35 announced
  6. + MinigamesFair22 devs · median $7.4k · 15 announced
  7. + RhythmFair19 devs · median $5.9k · 24 announced
  8. + UnderwaterFair37 devs · median $5.0k · 54 announced
  9. + CollectathonFair182 devs · median $3.5k · 230 announced
  10. + DwarvesFair13 devs · median $3.2k · 18 announced
  11. + 3D FighterFair11 devs · median $3.1k · 15 announced
  12. + IncrementalFair611 devs · median $1.9k · 893 announced

All 214 pairs on the Management page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Victoria 3 older $49.99 41,251 71% 1.2M $62M (exactly $61,864,125) Paradox Development Studio
WorldBox - God Simulator · EA older $19.99 51,071 95% 1.5M $31M (exactly $30,627,279) Maxim Karpenko
Frostpunk 2 $44.99 20,872 74% 626k $28M (exactly $28,170,938) 11 bit studios
Tropico 6 older $39.99 19,837 88% 595k $24M (exactly $23,798,449) Limbic Entertainment, Realmforge Studios
Imperator: Rome older $39.99 19,492 65% 585k $23M (exactly $23,384,552) Paradox Development Studio
Victoria II older $19.99 16,504 92% 495k $9.9M (exactly $9,897,449) Paradox Development Studio
Not For Broadcast older $24.99 10,337 94% 310k $7.7M (exactly $7,749,649) NotGames
Tropico 5 older $19.99 9,796 78% 294k $5.9M (exactly $5,874,661) Haemimont Games
Democracy 4 older $29.99 5,891 81% 177k $5.3M (exactly $5,300,133) Positech Games
Do Not Feed the Monkeys older $15.99 10,376 93% 311k $5.0M (exactly $4,977,367) Fictiorama Studios
Beholder: Conductor $13.99 4,532 91% 136k $1.9M (exactly $1,902,080) Alawar
MEMORIAPOLIS $32.00 1,752 75% 53k $1.7M (exactly $1,681,920) 5PM Studio
Ascension · EA $19.99 2,437 60% 73k $1.5M (exactly $1,461,469) Element Game 微元游戏
Politics The Game $9.99 2,526 95% 76k $757k (exactly $757,042) Simplicity Games
Geo-Political Simulator 5 $59.99 391 34% 12k $704k (exactly $703,683) Eversim
Mandate Order · EA $19.99 1,110 81% 33k $666k (exactly $665,667) Digital Sky
Geo-Political Simulator 2026 Edition $59.99 249 48% 7.5k $448k (exactly $448,125) Eversim
The End of History · EA $28.00 366 68% 11k $307k (exactly $307,440) Tatamibeya
Solar Nations 2 · EA $14.99 609 85% 18k $274k (exactly $273,867) Flomgus Games

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.