Games › Management › Management + Underground
Should I ship an Underground Management game?
Management + Underground
Of 39 developers who shipped an Underground 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.. 87 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $4.2k, ×6.7 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $680; 1 in 20 cleared $600k, ×962 the market median. Revenue is up 25% on the market; 87 games are announced against 29 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $674 (exactly $674) |
|---|---|
| Median | $4.2k (exactly $4,196) |
| Top 25% | $9.4k (exactly $9,352) |
| Top 5% | $604k (exactly $603,947) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 39 |
| Released games | 70 |
| Announced | 87 |
| 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 up 25% on the market, supply 190% 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
- Underground
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Management; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Simulation, Mining
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Colorful, Cute
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 90% positive over 8,075 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $680. 8 in 10 of the 11 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 87 games are announced against 29 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Management with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + RomeFair
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + WesternFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + JRPGFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + RhythmFair
- + UnderwaterFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + DwarvesFair
- + 3D FighterFair
- + IncrementalFair
Comparable games
War for the Overworld 2015 · $5.8M 
Mr. Prepper 2021 · $2.9M 
Until We Die 2021 · $2.2M 
MineMogul 2025 · EA · $1.9M 
KeeperRL 2024 · $1.0M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | War for the Overworld | older | $29.99 | 6,495 85% | 195k | $5.8M (exactly $5,843,552) | Brightrock Games |
| | Mr. Prepper | older | $19.99 | 4,795 81% | 144k | $2.9M (exactly $2,875,562) | Rejected Games |
| | Until We Die | older | $16.99 | 4,221 62% | 127k | $2.2M (exactly $2,151,444) | Pixeye Games |
| | MineMogul | · EA | $14.99 | 4,330 96% | 130k | $1.9M (exactly $1,947,201) | NoodleForge (Gvarados & Diomonder) |
| | KeeperRL | older | $19.99 | 1,677 83% | 50k | $1.0M (exactly $1,005,697) | Electric Succubi |
 | Coal LLC | $14.99 | 1,343 92% | 40k | $604k (exactly $603,947) | Bye Bye Ocean | |
 | Dirty Business | · EA | $14.99 | 906 75% | 27k | $407k (exactly $407,428) | Plan Dirty Games |
 | STATIONflow | older | $17.99 | 479 85% | 14k | $259k (exactly $258,516) | DMM GAMES |
 | Project Wunderwaffe | older | $14.99 | 438 56% | 13k | $197k (exactly $196,969) | Weasel Games |
 | Mercury Fallen | older | $24.99 | 255 80% | 7.7k | $191k (exactly $191,174) | Nitrous Butterfly |
 | Diggin | $6.99 | 635 80% | 19k | $133k (exactly $133,160) | Longshot Studio | |
 | Deep Corp | · EA | $11.99 | 365 89% | 11k | $131k (exactly $131,290) | KishMish Games |
 | Aground Zero | $19.99 | 121 81% | 3.6k | $73k (exactly $72,564) | Fancy Fish Games | |
 | Chipmatic | $11.99 | 158 65% | 4.7k | $57k (exactly $56,833) | Molter | |
 | Goblin Lord wants me to become a Virgin Wizard by Managing The Brothel!? | $9.99 | 139 76% | 4.2k | $42k (exactly $41,658) | Happy Pillow | |
 | Underworld Overseer | $19.99 | 52 90% | 1.6k | $31k (exactly $31,184) | Myron Games | |
 | ExoColony: Planet Survival | $11.99 | 26 69% | 780 | $9.4k (exactly $9,352) | Simplemole |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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