Do I ship it?

GamesPvEPvE + Political Sim

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a PvE Political Sim?

PvE + Political Sim

Only 17 developers shipped a PvE Political Sim 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, Age of Clicks, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 31 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.1k, ×1.7 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $210; 1 in 20 cleared $180k, ×293 the market median. Revenue is up 485% on the market; 31 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.7 times the market baseline, revenue up 485% on the market, 31 announced, ×2.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
PvE + Political Sim
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 17
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $4.9k → $210 → $1.2k (still earning) → $1.9k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for PvE + Political Sim: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 17
Bottom 30% $210 (exactly $210)
Median $1.1k (exactly $1,077)
Top 25% $2.4k (exactly $2,395)
Top 5% $184k (exactly $183,938)
Developers, 2 yr 17
Released games 36
Announced 31
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $5.99

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 485% on the market, supply 85% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 25%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.

PvE
effort 6 / 10 · low · online co-op against AI still needs the whole netcode stack
Political Sim
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
PvE, Political Sim; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Simulation, Wargame
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $16.99 or above
Art
8 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $16.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 66% positive over 581 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $210, median $1.1k, 1 in 4 over $2.3k, 1 in 20 over $180k.

3 in 10 developers made under $210. 9 in 10 of the 8 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 31 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

PvE with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Dating SimFair17 devs · median $2.4k · 23 announced
  2. + IdlerFair161 devs · median $1.0k · 229 announced
  3. + MinigamesFair9 devs · median $899 · 14 announced
  4. + TypingFair23 devs · median $719 · 27 announced
  5. + Extraction ShooterPoor odds44 devs · median $163k · 97 announced
  6. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds50 devs · median $85k · 120 announced
  7. + HeistPoor odds18 devs · median $30k · 50 announced
  8. + MMORPGPoor odds34 devs · median $25k · 248 announced
  9. + Real-TimePoor odds10 devs · median $20k · 24 announced
  10. + NavalPoor odds21 devs · median $11k · 59 announced
  11. + SpaceshipsPoor odds16 devs · median $6.3k · 20 announced
  12. + MarsPoor odds10 devs · median $6.3k · 13 announced

All 243 pairs on the PvE page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Age of Clicks · EA $12.99 472 65% 14k $184k (exactly $183,938) David Ius
Among Ass older $4.99 378 80% 11k $57k (exactly $56,587) Volens Nolens Games
Collapse: A Political Simulator older $6.99 168 66% 5.0k $35k (exactly $35,230) Nostalgames
Socialism Simulator older $3.99 240 95% 7.2k $29k (exactly $28,728) Sempiternal Rain
Globalism · EA $29.99 17 52% 510 $15k (exactly $15,295) igelanium games
GOOOAL older $2.99 92 88% 2.8k $8.3k (exactly $8,252) SmoochGM
Nuice Industries · EA $7.99 25 96% 750 $6.0k (exactly $5,992) CastleWind
Clockwork Dawn · EA older $14.99 11 90% 330 $4.9k (exactly $4,947) Terra Studios LLC
Empire of Vice : Chicago · EA $16.99 9 77% 270 $4.6k (exactly $4,587) Artifex Parvus
Senatus $4.99 16 81% 480 $2.4k (exactly $2,395) Slashware Interactive, Megalevel
LouveSystems' Realms $12.99 5 100% 150 $1.9k (exactly $1,948) LouveSystems
MA 2 – President Simulator $4.99 13 69% 390 $1.9k (exactly $1,946) Oxiwyle Inc.
CheeseMoney $2.99 13 23% 390 $1.2k (exactly $1,166) Liang ZhiYa, Global People Holdings Gro… (Liang ZhiYa, Global People Holdings Group LLC, Song-Ya Network Systems (Guangzhou) Co Ltd)
Crisis Commander: Strait Of Hormuz $3.99 9 77% 270 $1.1k (exactly $1,077) Kra Kra Games
Donerksela -Sacred Area- $5.99 2 100% 60 $359 (exactly $359) 成長元素研究所

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.