Do I ship it?

GamesManagementManagement + Walking Simulator

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Walking Simulator Management game?

Management + Walking Simulator

Of 41 developers who shipped a Walking Simulator 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.. 70 more are announced, ×2.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $3.6k, ×5.7 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.2k; 1 in 20 cleared $150k, ×248 the market median. Revenue is down 35% on the market; 70 games are announced against 27 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 5.7 times the market baseline, revenue down 35% on the market, 70 announced, ×2.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Management + Walking Simulator
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 41
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $12k → $12k → $3.6k → $11k → $6.3k → $1.5k (still earning) → $3.0k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Management + Walking Simulator: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 41
Bottom 30% $1.2k (exactly $1,197)
Median $3.6k (exactly $3,565)
Top 25% $12k (exactly $11,661)
Top 5% $156k (exactly $155,838)
Developers, 2 yr 41
Released games 85
Announced 70
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 35% on the market, supply 95% 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
Walking Simulator
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, Walking Simulator; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Immersive Sim, Life Sim
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, 3D, Realistic
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 85% positive over 2,651 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $1.2k, median $3.6k, 1 in 4 over $11k, 1 in 20 over $150k.

3 in 10 developers made under $1.2k. 7 in 10 of the 16 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 70 games are announced against 27 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 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
Tank Mechanic Simulator older $19.99 8,792 87% 264k $5.3M (exactly $5,272,562) DeGenerals S.A.
Internet Cafe Simulator older $9.99 8,729 75% 262k $2.6M (exactly $2,616,081) Cheesecake Dev
King of Retail older $25.99 2,982 88% 89k $2.3M (exactly $2,325,065) Freaking Games
Junkyard Simulator · EA older $19.99 2,182 64% 65k $1.3M (exactly $1,308,545) Rebelia Games
Plane Mechanic Simulator older $11.99 1,561 56% 47k $561k (exactly $561,492) Cobble Games, Disaster Studio
Treasure Hunter Simulator older $16.99 1,096 59% 33k $559k (exactly $558,631) DRAGO entertainment
Dinosaur Fossil Hunter older $19.99 820 77% 25k $492k (exactly $491,754) ▲ Pyramid Games
Streamer Daily older $11.99 1,080 88% 32k $388k (exactly $388,476) Mehan Games
Maid Cafe on Electric Street $18.99 595 82% 18k $339k (exactly $338,972) Adventurer's Tavern
Airline Tycoon Deluxe older $9.99 606 84% 18k $182k (exactly $181,618) Spellbound
Corner Kitchen Fast Food Simulator $13.99 411 85% 12k $172k (exactly $172,497) Purple Heads Games
The Boba Teashop $4.99 1,041 95% 31k $156k (exactly $155,838) Mike Ten
Chaos Express: Delivery Simulator · EA $13.37 116 77% 3.5k $47k (exactly $46,528) AVE Team
LAN Party Adventures $14.99 93 89% 2.8k $42k (exactly $41,822) LEAP Game Studios
Tech Store Simulator $9.99 103 61% 3.1k $31k (exactly $30,869) Astrasoft
Village Merchant $14.99 60 68% 1.8k $27k (exactly $26,982) Beast Games S. A., Console Labs S. A.
Bigfoot Life $12.99 62 75% 1.9k $24k (exactly $24,161) Planet 47 Games
Parcel Delivery Simulator $6.99 114 61% 3.4k $24k (exactly $23,906) Digital Melody
I Sell Lemonade $13.99 56 67% 1.7k $24k (exactly $23,503) EBS, Picklebyte

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