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Should I ship a Mining Space Sim?
Space Sim + Mining
Of 35 developers who shipped a Mining 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.. 64 more are announced, ×2.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.9k, ×3.0 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $540; 1 in 20 cleared $2.9M, ×4728 the market median. Revenue is down 65% on the market; 64 games are announced against 25 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $538 (exactly $538) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.9k (exactly $1,915) |
| Top 25% | $53k (exactly $52,767) |
| Top 5% | $3.0M (exactly $2,969,115) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 35 |
| Released games | 85 |
| Announced | 64 |
| 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 down 65% on the market, supply 150% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 11%, 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, Mining; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Exploration, Sandbox, Simulation
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 76% positive over 16,302 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $540. 7 in 10 of the 11 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 64 games are announced against 25 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Space Sim with a different second tag, 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
Space Engineers 2 2025 · EA · $4.6M 
SpaceBourne 2 2025 · $3.0M 
Star Valor 2022 · $2.5M 
Starminer 2026 · EA · $1.6M 
The Last Starship 2026 · $973k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Space Engineers 2 | · EA | $29.99 | 5,095 74% | 153k | $4.6M (exactly $4,583,972) | Keen Software House |
| | SpaceBourne 2 | $19.99 | 4,951 75% | 149k | $3.0M (exactly $2,969,115) | Burak Dabak | |
| | Star Valor | older | $24.99 | 3,272 88% | 98k | $2.5M (exactly $2,453,018) | Rafael Burgos |
| | Starminer | · EA | $29.99 | 1,818 72% | 55k | $1.6M (exactly $1,635,655) | CoolAndGoodGames |
| | The Last Starship | $19.99 | 1,623 75% | 49k | $973k (exactly $973,313) | Introversion Software | |
 | Interstellar Rift | older | $19.99 | 1,411 66% | 42k | $846k (exactly $846,177) | Split Polygon |
 | Solar Expanse - Space Exploration Manager | · EA | $17.99 | 1,252 87% | 38k | $676k (exactly $675,704) | SpaceOps |
 | Astrox Imperium | · EA older | $14.99 | 1,236 83% | 37k | $556k (exactly $555,829) | Jace Masula |
 | Galactic Mining Corp | older | $12.99 | 868 84% | 26k | $338k (exactly $338,260) | Windybeard |
 | Space Colony: Steam Edition | older | $14.99 | 564 78% | 17k | $254k (exactly $253,631) | Firefly Studios |
 | Vanguard Galaxy | · EA | $8.99 | 565 90% | 17k | $152k (exactly $152,380) | Bat Roost Games |
 | Digger: Galactic Treasures | $4.99 | 711 87% | 21k | $106k (exactly $106,437) | RainStyle games | |
 | Surviving Mars: Pioneer | $24.99 | 78 83% | 2.3k | $58k (exactly $58,477) | Bolverk Games | |
 | I Fetch Rocks | $15.99 | 110 94% | 3.3k | $53k (exactly $52,767) | SarumXR | |
 | Utopia Colony | $16.99 | 99 63% | 3.0k | $50k (exactly $50,460) | GridSky Studios |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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