Games › Resource Management › Resource Management + Noir
Should I ship a Noir Resource Management game?
Resource Management + Noir
Only 18 developers shipped a Noir Resource Management game in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Hollywood Animal, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 50 more are announced, ×3.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.9k, ×4.0 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $240; 1 in 20 cleared $2.3M, ×4854 the market median. Revenue is up 55% on the market; 50 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $240 (exactly $240) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.9k (exactly $1,887) |
| Top 25% | $4.9k (exactly $4,940) |
| Top 5% | $2.3M (exactly $2,305,846) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 18 |
| Released games | 37 |
| Announced | 50 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 55% on the market, supply 250% 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.
- Resource Management
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Noir
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Resource Management; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Choices Matter, Simulation, Strategy
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, First-Person, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 74% positive over 4,076 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $240. 5 in 10 of the 6 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 50 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.6 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Resource Management with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + DwarvesFair
- + WesternFair
- + SnowFair
- + JRPGFair
- + UnderwaterFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + IdlerFair
- + ArcadeFair
- + HorsesFair
- + Quick-Time EventsFair
Comparable games
Hollywood Animal 2025 · EA · $2.3M 
City of Gangsters 2021 · $1.2M 
Heading Out 2024 · $383k 
The Pony Factory 2024 · $94k 
Sunshine Shuffle 2023 · $47k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Hollywood Animal | · EA | $19.99 | 3,845 73% | 115k | $2.3M (exactly $2,305,846) | Weappy Wholesome |
| | City of Gangsters | older | $29.99 | 1,332 73% | 40k | $1.2M (exactly $1,198,400) | SomaSim |
| | Heading Out | older | $19.99 | 639 74% | 19k | $383k (exactly $383,208) | Serious Sim, Crunching Koalas |
| | The Pony Factory | older | $3.99 | 789 90% | 24k | $94k (exactly $94,443) | David Szymanski, John Szymanski |
| | Sunshine Shuffle | older | $9.99 | 156 76% | 4.7k | $47k (exactly $46,753) | Strange Scaffold |
 | GHOST at DAWN | older | $19.99 | 34 76% | 1.0k | $20k (exactly $20,390) | Blue and Red Games |
 | Coffee Noir - Business Detective Game | older | $8.99 | 72 65% | 2.2k | $19k (exactly $19,418) | DOJI, NAOS Software, Darkpowder |
 | Grand Cru: The Wine Maker | $14.99 | 37 86% | 1.1k | $17k (exactly $16,639) | hAi Corp | |
 | Ark Noir | older | $9.99 | 47 76% | 1.4k | $14k (exactly $14,086) | Amamori Lab |
 | 非常魔王(Beelzebub) | older | $4.99 | 86 90% | 2.6k | $13k (exactly $12,874) | 王韋 |
 | Serra de Deus | $4.99 | 85 94% | 2.6k | $13k (exactly $12,724) | David Pateti | |
 | Under His Eyes | $9.99 | 17 29% | 510 | $5.1k (exactly $5,095) | HAS Games | |
 | Battle Of The Abyss | $4.99 | 33 93% | 990 | $4.9k (exactly $4,940) | 1029studio | |
 | Just One More Link | $6.99 | 18 94% | 540 | $3.8k (exactly $3,775) | Blagine | |
 | Housekeeper: Anomaly | $5.99 | 14 100% | 420 | $2.5k (exactly $2,516) | Alex Grim | |
 | Afterlight Catacombs | $11.99 | 6 100% | 180 | $2.2k (exactly $2,158) | Crit42 Studio | |
 | Smoke Town | $6.99 | 9 100% | 270 | $1.9k (exactly $1,887) | TSRV | |
 | CurrentDay | $2.99 | 12 100% | 360 | $1.1k (exactly $1,076) | HB Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.