Do I ship it?

Games › Management › Management + Steampunk

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Steampunk Management game?

Management + Steampunk

Only 17 developers shipped a Steampunk Management game in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Frostpunk 2, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 45 more are announced, ×3.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $1.9k, ×3.0 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $750; 1 in 20 cleared $28M, ×44858 the market median. Revenue is down 85% on the market; 45 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.0 times the market baseline, revenue down 85% on the market, 45 announced, ×3.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Management + Steampunk
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 17
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $5.1k → $70k → $1.3k → $1.9k (still earning) → $150 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Management + Steampunk: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 17
Bottom 30% $748 (exactly $748)
Median $1.9k (exactly $1,888)
Top 25% $21k (exactly $21,407)
Top 5% $28M (exactly $28,170,938)
Developers, 2 yr 17
Released games 42
Announced 45
Effort 5 / 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 85% on the market, supply 140% 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
Steampunk
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 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; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Resource Management, Base Building
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $16.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Atmospheric, Pixel Graphics
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $16.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 74% positive over 21,468 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $750, median $1.9k, 1 in 4 over $21k, 1 in 20 over $28M.

3 in 10 developers made under $750. 8 in 10 of the 5 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 45 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.8 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Management with a different setting or mood, 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

Frostpunk 2018 · $103M They Are Billions 2019 · $42M Frostpunk 2 2024 · $28M SteamWorld Build 2023 · $1.4M Airship: Kingdoms Adrift 2023 · $812k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Frostpunk older $29.99 114,376 92% 3.4M $103M (exactly $102,904,087) 11 bit studios
They Are Billions older $29.99 46,223 85% 1.4M $42M (exactly $41,586,833) Numantian Games
Frostpunk 2 $44.99 20,872 74% 626k $28M (exactly $28,170,938) 11 bit studios
SteamWorld Build older $24.99 1,884 83% 57k $1.4M (exactly $1,412,435) The Station
Airship: Kingdoms Adrift older $29.99 902 75% 27k $812k (exactly $811,529) Revolution Industry
Lethis - Path of Progress older $19.99 1,103 67% 33k $661k (exactly $661,469) Triskell Interactive
Merchant of the Skies older $14.99 1,437 87% 43k $646k (exactly $646,219) Coldwild Games
Dream Engines: Nomad Cities older $29.99 552 73% 17k $497k (exactly $496,634) Suncrash
Steel Artery: Train City Builder $14.99 305 71% 9.2k $137k (exactly $137,158) SoulAge23
The Last Alchemist older $19.99 151 76% 4.5k $91k (exactly $90,555) Vile Monarch
Exark $14.99 99 73% 3.0k $45k (exactly $44,520) Robot Cat Limited
Barrage $14.99 78 80% 2.3k $35k (exactly $35,077) Cranio Lab
The Fool's Apprentice $16.99 42 52% 1.3k $21k (exactly $21,407) The Planar Danse
Drill Rift $14.99 24 75% 720 $11k (exactly $10,793) Steam Veil Games
Nova Patria $11.99 22 100% 660 $7.9k (exactly $7,913) Sower Interactive
Tinker-World: Arrival at Kedhreon $6.99 10 90% 300 $2.1k (exactly $2,097) From The Cave, TibiSoft
Antidote to despair $8.99 7 85% 210 $1.9k (exactly $1,888) Gamet
The Mnemograph · EA $4.99 9 100% 270 $1.3k (exactly $1,347) Thousands of Daggers

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