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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.
| 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.
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
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
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.
What kills games here
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.
Adjacent niches
PvE with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Dating SimFair
- + IdlerFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + TypingFair
- + Extraction ShooterPoor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + HeistPoor odds
- + MMORPGPoor odds
- + Real-TimePoor odds
- + NavalPoor odds
- + SpaceshipsPoor odds
- + MarsPoor odds
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.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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