Games › Space Sim › Space Sim + Procedural Generation
Should I ship a Procedural Generation Space Sim?
Space Sim + Procedural Generation
Of 60 developers who shipped a Procedural Generation 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.. 104 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.8k, ×2.9 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $740k, ×1188 the market median. Revenue is up 130% on the market; 104 games are announced against 38 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $299 (exactly $299) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.8k (exactly $1,799) |
| Top 25% | $15k (exactly $14,748) |
| Top 5% | $746k (exactly $745,952) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 60 |
| Released games | 170 |
| Announced | 104 |
| Effort | 6 / 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 130% on the market, supply 75% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 10%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Space Sim
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Procedural Generation
- 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
- Space Sim, Procedural Generation; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Exploration, Sandbox, Simulation
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 85% positive over 11,170 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 8 in 10 of the 24 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 104 games are announced against 38 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 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
No Man's Sky 2016 · $567M 
Hardspace: Shipbreaker 2022 · $20M 
FTL: Faster Than Light 2012 · $19M 
SpaceEngine 2019 · EA · $14M 
Star Valor 2022 · $2.5M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | No Man's Sky | older | $59.99 | 315,054 83% | 9.5M | $567M (exactly $567,002,684) | Hello Games |
| | Hardspace: Shipbreaker | older | $34.99 | 19,431 89% | 583k | $20M (exactly $20,396,721) | Blackbird Interactive |
| | FTL: Faster Than Light | older | $9.99 | 62,763 94% | 1.9M | $19M (exactly $18,810,071) | Subset Games |
| | SpaceEngine | · EA older | $29.99 | 15,826 96% | 475k | $14M (exactly $14,238,652) | Cosmographic Software |
| | Star Valor | older | $24.99 | 3,272 88% | 98k | $2.5M (exactly $2,453,018) | Rafael Burgos |
 | Mars First Logistics | $19.99 | 3,497 94% | 105k | $2.1M (exactly $2,097,151) | Shape Shop | |
 | Ostranauts | $19.99 | 3,137 77% | 94k | $1.9M (exactly $1,881,259) | Blue Bottle Games | |
 | Star Traders: Frontiers | older | $14.99 | 3,672 83% | 110k | $1.7M (exactly $1,651,298) | Trese Brothers |
 | Space Pirates And Zombies 2 | older | $19.99 | 2,734 78% | 82k | $1.6M (exactly $1,639,580) | MinMax Games Ltd. |
 | Stardeus | · EA older | $29.99 | 1,430 87% | 43k | $1.3M (exactly $1,286,571) | Kodo Linija |
 | Approximately Up | $24.99 | 995 93% | 30k | $746k (exactly $745,952) | Approximately Games | |
 | Approaching Infinity | $17.99 | 723 95% | 22k | $390k (exactly $390,203) | IBOL | |
 | Space Trash Scavenger | $19.99 | 512 82% | 15k | $307k (exactly $307,046) | SquarePlay Games | |
 | 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 | |
 | Vanguard Galaxy | · EA | $8.99 | 565 90% | 17k | $152k (exactly $152,380) | Bat Roost Games |
 | Star Survivor | $4.99 | 540 67% | 16k | $81k (exactly $80,838) | SpaceOwl Games, Erabit | |
 | Warspace 2 | $17.99 | 83 59% | 2.5k | $45k (exactly $44,795) | Magic Game Art |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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