Do I ship it?

GamesManagementManagement + Time Management

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Time Management Management game?

Management + Time Management

Of 649 developers who shipped a Time Management 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.. 1,121 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 $2.5k, ×4.1 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $280k, ×457 the market median. Revenue is down 15% on the market; 1,121 games are announced against 407 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 4.1 times the market baseline, revenue down 15% on the market, 1,121 announced, ×2.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Management + Time Management
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 649
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.3k → $5.4k → $3.0k → $6.1k → $4.6k → $3.2k → $2.8k (still earning) → $1.1k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Management + Time Management: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 649
Bottom 30% $599 (exactly $599)
Median $2.5k (exactly $2,545)
Top 25% $24k (exactly $23,906)
Top 5% $287k (exactly $287,135)
Developers, 2 yr 649
Released games 1,479
Announced 1,121
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $8.99

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 15% on the market, supply 55% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 11%, 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
Time Management
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Management, Time Management; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Resource Management, Economy
Price point
$8.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Relaxing, First-Person
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.

The top 10 games average 87% positive over 127,907 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 $2.5k, 1 in 4 over $23k, 1 in 20 over $280k.

3 in 10 developers made under $600. 7 in 10 of the 314 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 1,121 games are announced against 407 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
Farming Simulator 25 $29.99 39,681 87% 1.2M $36M (exactly $35,700,996) GIANTS Software
Farthest Frontier $34.99 24,444 86% 733k $26M (exactly $25,658,867) Crate Entertainment
The Alters $34.99 15,330 90% 460k $16M (exactly $16,091,901) 11 bit studios
Infection Free Zone · EA older $24.99 16,568 80% 497k $12M (exactly $12,421,030) Jutsu Games
Big Ambitions $25.99 14,003 92% 420k $11M (exactly $10,918,139) Hovgaard Games
The Bus $39.99 7,831 73% 235k $9.4M (exactly $9,394,851) TML-Studios
Youtubers Life older $19.99 13,748 77% 412k $8.2M (exactly $8,244,676) UPLAY Online
Parkitect older $29.99 6,809 94% 204k $6.1M (exactly $6,126,057) Texel Raptor
F1® Manager 2024 older $34.99 5,554 83% 167k $5.8M (exactly $5,830,034) Frontier Developments
Tavern Master older $14.99 12,613 92% 378k $5.7M (exactly $5,672,066) Untitled Studio
Tiny Bookshop $19.99 6,967 96% 209k $4.2M (exactly $4,178,110) neoludic games
Kebab Chefs! - Restaurant Simulator $17.99 7,019 83% 211k $3.8M (exactly $3,788,154) Biotech Gameworks
Farm Together 2 $25.99 4,456 93% 134k $3.5M (exactly $3,474,343) Milkstone Studios
News Tower $24.99 4,316 94% 129k $3.2M (exactly $3,235,705) Sparrow Night
Esports Manager 2026 $19.99 3,860 73% 116k $2.3M (exactly $2,314,842) Neurona Games

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