Games › Open World Survival Craft › Open World Survival Craft + Simulation
Should I ship a Simulation Open World Survival Craft?
Open World Survival Craft + Simulation
Of 76 developers who shipped a Simulation Open World Survival Craft 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.. 187 more are announced, ×4.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 9 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $72k, ×54 the market's $1.3k for a 9 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $15k; 1 in 20 cleared $7.3M, ×5491 the market median. Revenue is up 70% on the market; 187 games are announced against 44 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $15k (exactly $14,572) |
|---|---|
| Median | $72k (exactly $72,402) |
| Top 25% | $749k (exactly $748,760) |
| Top 5% | $7.4M (exactly $7,396,100) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 76 |
| Released games | 284 |
| Announced | 187 |
| Effort | 9 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $14.99 |
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 70% on the market, supply 35% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 7%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Open World Survival Craft
- effort 9 / 10 · low · dedicated multiplayer servers over a huge content build
- Simulation
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 9 / 10 · studio only
- Systems
- Open World Survival Craft, Simulation; 9 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Crafting, Base Building, Survival
- Price point
- $14.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $14.99.
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 115,396 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $15k. 4 in 10 of the 36 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 187 games are announced against 44 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Open World Survival Craft with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + AutomationFair
- + Co-opPoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
- + Immersive SimPoor odds
- + PhysicsPoor odds
- + Colony SimPoor odds
- + MedievalPoor odds
- + ShooterPoor odds
- + PvPPoor odds
- + Sci-fiPoor odds
- + Character CustomizationPoor odds
- + RPGPoor odds
Comparable games
Rust 2018 · $1.4B 
No Man's Sky 2016 · $567M 
7 Days to Die 2024 · $369M 
The Forest 2018 · $349M 
Satisfactory 2024 · $282M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Rust | older | $39.99 | 1,167,920 87% | 35M | $1.4B (exactly $1,401,153,624) | Facepunch Studios |
| | No Man's Sky | older | $59.99 | 315,054 83% | 9.5M | $567M (exactly $567,002,684) | Hello Games |
| | 7 Days to Die | older | $44.99 | 273,589 87% | 8.2M | $369M (exactly $369,263,073) | The Fun Pimps |
| | The Forest | older | $19.99 | 581,431 95% | 17M | $349M (exactly $348,684,171) | Endnight Games Ltd |
| | Satisfactory | older | $39.99 | 234,993 97% | 7.0M | $282M (exactly $281,921,102) | Coffee Stain Studios |
 | Project Zomboid | · EA older | $24.99 | 364,830 94% | 11M | $274M (exactly $273,513,051) | The Indie Stone |
 | Raft | older | $19.99 | 323,481 93% | 9.7M | $194M (exactly $193,991,556) | Redbeet Interactive |
 | ASTRONEER | older | $29.99 | 118,844 91% | 3.6M | $107M (exactly $106,923,947) | System Era Softworks |
 | The Long Dark | older | $19.99 | 110,264 89% | 3.3M | $66M (exactly $66,125,321) | Hinterland Studio Inc. |
 | Green Hell | older | $24.99 | 79,392 84% | 2.4M | $60M (exactly $59,520,182) | Creepy Jar |
 | Abiotic Factor | $34.99 | 42,075 95% | 1.3M | $44M (exactly $44,166,128) | Deep Field Games | |
 | Dinkum | $19.99 | 24,641 92% | 739k | $15M (exactly $14,777,208) | James Bendon | |
 | Voidtrain | $29.99 | 8,713 73% | 261k | $7.8M (exactly $7,839,086) | HypeTrain Digital | |
 | StarRupture | · EA | $19.99 | 12,333 80% | 370k | $7.4M (exactly $7,396,100) | Creepy Jar |
 | The Front | $19.99 | 9,555 66% | 287k | $5.7M (exactly $5,730,134) | Samar Studio | |
 | Occupy Mars: The Game | $29.99 | 2,714 68% | 81k | $2.4M (exactly $2,441,786) | ▲ Pyramid Games | |
 | Solarpunk™ | $22.99 | 3,492 81% | 105k | $2.4M (exactly $2,408,432) | Cyberwave | |
 | I Am Future: Cozy Apocalypse Survival | $19.99 | 4,011 83% | 120k | $2.4M (exactly $2,405,397) | Mandragora | |
 | Aloft | · EA | $24.99 | 3,057 82% | 92k | $2.3M (exactly $2,291,833) | Astrolabe Interactive Inc. |
 | Sandustry | · EA | $14.99 | 4,805 97% | 144k | $2.2M (exactly $2,160,808) | Lantto Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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