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Should I ship a Mars Space Sim?
Space Sim + Mars
Of 23 developers who shipped a Mars Space Sim 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.. 29 more are announced, ×2.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $480, ×0.8 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $810k, ×1299 the market median. Revenue is up 500% on the market; 29 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $150 (exactly $150) |
|---|---|
| Median | $479 (exactly $479) |
| Top 25% | $50k (exactly $50,460) |
| Top 5% | $816k (exactly $815,617) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 23 |
| Released games | 72 |
| Announced | 29 |
| Effort | 6 / 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 up 500% on the market, supply 55% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 6%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Space Sim; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Base Building, Simulation, Building
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 6,234 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 29 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Space Sim with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + DestructionFair
- + Female ProtagonistFair
- + Tactical RPGFair
- + WarFair
- + Walking SimulatorFair
- + SportsFair
- + DiplomacyLong shot
- + MilitaryPoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
- + Strategy RPGPoor odds
- + SandboxPoor odds
- + Colony SimPoor odds
Comparable games
Mars First Logistics 2025 · $2.1M 
Mars Horizon 2020 · $1.7M 
Solargene 2026 · $816k 
Take On Mars 2017 · $525k 
Blossom: The Seed of Life 2026 · $515k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Mars First Logistics | $19.99 | 3,497 94% | 105k | $2.1M (exactly $2,097,151) | Shape Shop | |
| | Mars Horizon | older | $19.99 | 2,757 84% | 83k | $1.7M (exactly $1,653,373) | Auroch Digital |
| | Solargene | $34.99 | 777 77% | 23k | $816k (exactly $815,617) | Alexander Semenov | |
| | Take On Mars | older | $9.99 | 1,751 55% | 53k | $525k (exactly $524,775) | Bohemia Interactive |
| | Blossom: The Seed of Life | $16.99 | 1,011 88% | 30k | $515k (exactly $515,307) | Pebbledust Games | |
 | Stellar Settlers: Space Base Builder | $11.99 | 744 69% | 22k | $268k (exactly $267,617) | Tinymice Entertainment | |
 | Rover Mechanic Simulator | older | $11.99 | 376 82% | 11k | $135k (exactly $135,247) | ▲ Pyramid Games |
 | Gaia Beyond | older | $14.99 | 240 73% | 7.2k | $108k (exactly $107,928) | Warp Turtle |
 | Space Company Simulator | · EA older | $19.99 | 158 27% | 4.7k | $95k (exactly $94,753) | Intermarum |
 | Space Mechanic Simulator | older | $19.99 | 115 60% | 3.5k | $69k (exactly $68,966) | Atomic Jelly |
 | Surviving Mars: Pioneer | $24.99 | 78 83% | 2.3k | $58k (exactly $58,477) | Bolverk Games | |
 | Utopia Colony | $16.99 | 99 63% | 3.0k | $50k (exactly $50,460) | GridSky Studios | |
 | Star Titans : War of the Galaxy | $14.99 | 14 92% | 420 | $6.3k (exactly $6,296) | Mediawork | |
 | HAS Galactics | $11.99 | 7 28% | 210 | $2.5k (exactly $2,518) | HAS Games | |
 | Terraspace | $7.99 | 5 20% | 150 | $1.2k (exactly $1,198) | Black Apple | |
 | Off World Racing | · EA | $14.99 | 2 50% | 60 | $899 (exactly $899) | Off World Racing Company |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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