Games › Sandbox › Sandbox + Modern
Should I ship a Modern-Day Sandbox?
Sandbox + Modern
Of 90 developers who shipped a Modern-Day Sandbox 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.. 130 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $7.6k, ×12 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.5k; 1 in 20 cleared $790k, ×1269 the market median. Revenue is down 70% on the market; 130 games are announced against 52 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.4k (exactly $1,438) |
|---|---|
| Median | $7.6k (exactly $7,556) |
| Top 25% | $58k (exactly $57,571) |
| Top 5% | $797k (exactly $797,134) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 90 |
| Released games | 206 |
| Announced | 130 |
| 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 70% on the market, supply 35% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 8%, 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
- Sandbox; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Immersive Sim, Building
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Realistic, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 65% positive over 343,890 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.5k. 6 in 10 of the 39 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 130 games are announced against 52 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Sandbox with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FightingStrong odds
- + Turn-BasedFair
- + World War IIFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + ProgrammingFair
- + CatsFair
- + SportsFair
- + GamblingFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + Combat RacingFair
- + Trading Card GameFair
- + IdlerFair
Comparable games
Battlefield™ 6 2025 · $620M 
Cities: Skylines 2015 · $198M 
inZOI 2025 · EA · $36M 
PC Building Simulator 2019 · $25M 
Big Ambitions 2026 · $11M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Battlefield™ 6 | $69.99 | 295,442 63% | 8.9M | $620M (exactly $620,339,567) | Battlefield Studios | |
| | Cities: Skylines | older | $29.99 | 220,465 92% | 6.6M | $198M (exactly $198,352,360) | Colossal Order |
| | inZOI | · EA | $39.99 | 30,020 77% | 901k | $36M (exactly $36,014,994) | inZOI Studio |
| | PC Building Simulator | older | $19.99 | 42,153 93% | 1.3M | $25M (exactly $25,279,154) | Claudiu Kiss, The Irregular Corporation |
| | Big Ambitions | $25.99 | 14,003 92% | 420k | $11M (exactly $10,918,139) | Hovgaard Games | |
 | Arma 2: Operation Arrowhead | older | $19.99 | 16,198 92% | 486k | $9.7M (exactly $9,713,941) | Bohemia Interactive |
 | Call to Arms | older | $14.99 | 17,431 80% | 523k | $7.8M (exactly $7,838,721) | Digitalmindsoft |
 | 112 Operator | older | $24.99 | 5,688 88% | 171k | $4.3M (exactly $4,264,294) | Jutsu Games |
 | InfraSpace | older | $24.99 | 1,638 82% | 49k | $1.2M (exactly $1,228,009) | Dionic Software |
 | Highrise City | older | $29.99 | 1,240 77% | 37k | $1.1M (exactly $1,115,628) | Fourexo Entertainment |
 | Farmer's Dynasty 2 | · EA | $24.99 | 1,225 72% | 37k | $918k (exactly $918,382) | UMEO Studios |
 | Bus Bound | $29.99 | 886 72% | 27k | $797k (exactly $797,134) | stillalive studios | |
 | Train Sim World® 7 | $49.99 | 278 74% | 8.3k | $417k (exactly $416,917) | Dovetail Games | |
 | Industry Giant 4.0 | $24.99 | 506 33% | 15k | $379k (exactly $379,348) | Don VS Dodo | |
 | Worldwide Rush | $19.99 | 559 77% | 17k | $335k (exactly $335,232) | Memel Games | |
 | Project L33T: Founders Edition | $19.99 | 525 47% | 16k | $315k (exactly $314,842) | Targetpoint Interactive, Holmgard Games | |
 | Under The Island | $19.99 | 446 92% | 13k | $267k (exactly $267,466) | Slime King Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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