Games › Space Sim › Space Sim + Physics
Should I ship a Physics Space Sim?
Space Sim + Physics
Of 95 developers who shipped a Physics 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.. 206 more are announced, ×3.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $840, ×1.3 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $670k, ×1076 the market median. Revenue is up 170% on the market; 206 games are announced against 62 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $150 (exactly $150) |
|---|---|
| Median | $839 (exactly $839) |
| Top 25% | $7.6k (exactly $7,556) |
| Top 5% | $676k (exactly $675,704) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 95 |
| Released games | 289 |
| Announced | 206 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 170% on the market, supply 80% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 16%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Space Sim, Physics; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Sandbox, Exploration
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Realistic
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 81% positive over 15,914 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 37 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 206 games are announced against 62 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.3 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
Kerbal Space Program 2015 · $145M 
Space Engineers 2019 · $60M 
Kerbal Space Program 2 2023 · EA · $42M 
Universe Sandbox 2015 · EA · $25M 
Hardspace: Shipbreaker 2022 · $20M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Kerbal Space Program | older | $39.99 | 120,656 95% | 3.6M | $145M (exactly $144,751,003) | Squad |
| | Space Engineers | older | $19.99 | 100,533 89% | 3.0M | $60M (exactly $60,289,640) | Keen Software House |
| | Kerbal Space Program 2 | · EA older | $49.99 | 27,930 26% | 838k | $42M (exactly $41,886,621) | Intercept Games |
| | Universe Sandbox | · EA older | $29.99 | 27,843 96% | 835k | $25M (exactly $25,050,347) | Giant Army |
| | Hardspace: Shipbreaker | older | $34.99 | 19,431 89% | 583k | $20M (exactly $20,396,721) | Blackbird Interactive |
 | Empyrion - Galactic Survival | older | $19.99 | 29,204 78% | 876k | $18M (exactly $17,513,639) | Eleon Game Studios |
 | Space Engineers 2 | · EA | $29.99 | 5,095 74% | 153k | $4.6M (exactly $4,583,972) | Keen Software House |
 | Spaceflight Simulator | · EA older | $14.99 | 9,431 96% | 283k | $4.2M (exactly $4,241,121) | Team Curiosity ✦ |
 | Star Trucker | older | $24.99 | 4,928 77% | 148k | $3.7M (exactly $3,694,522) | Monster and Monster |
 | Exo One | older | $16.99 | 5,053 89% | 152k | $2.6M (exactly $2,575,514) | Exbleative |
 | Mars First Logistics | $19.99 | 3,497 94% | 105k | $2.1M (exactly $2,097,151) | Shape Shop | |
 | Starminer | · EA | $29.99 | 1,818 72% | 55k | $1.6M (exactly $1,635,655) | CoolAndGoodGames |
 | Reentry - A Space Flight Simulator | $34.99 | 1,319 97% | 40k | $1.4M (exactly $1,384,554) | Lyra Creative | |
 | Solar Expanse - Space Exploration Manager | · EA | $17.99 | 1,252 87% | 38k | $676k (exactly $675,704) | SpaceOps |
 | Exo Rally Championship | $24.99 | 374 90% | 11k | $280k (exactly $280,388) | Exbleative | |
 | Stellar Settlers: Space Base Builder | $11.99 | 744 69% | 22k | $268k (exactly $267,617) | Tinymice Entertainment | |
 | Drifter Star: Evolution | $3.99 | 1,165 73% | 35k | $139k (exactly $139,450) | Kayla Studio | |
 | Star Survivor | $4.99 | 540 67% | 16k | $81k (exactly $80,838) | SpaceOwl Games, Erabit | |
 | I Fetch Rocks | $15.99 | 110 94% | 3.3k | $53k (exactly $52,767) | SarumXR |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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