Do I ship it?

GamesTransportationTransportation + Procedural Generation

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Procedural Generation Transportation game?

Transportation + Procedural Generation

Only 19 developers shipped a Procedural Generation Transportation game 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, shapez 2 - Factory, 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, ×2.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $9.6k, ×15 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $5.1k; 1 in 20 cleared $12M, ×19836 the market median. Revenue is up 15% on the market; 31 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 15.2 times the market baseline, revenue up 15% on the market, 31 announced, ×2.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Transportation + Procedural Generation
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 19
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $5.4k → $22k → $1.5k → $20k → $11k → $12k → $11k (still earning) → $180 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Transportation + Procedural Generation: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 19
Bottom 30% $5.0k (exactly $5,034)
Median $9.6k (exactly $9,561)
Top 25% $99k (exactly $98,601)
Top 5% $12M (exactly $12,457,246)
Developers, 2 yr 19
Released games 47
Announced 31
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $8.99

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 15% on the market, supply 70% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 2%, 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 medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Transportation
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Procedural Generation
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Transportation, Procedural Generation; all of the top 25% also carry Building, Sandbox, Simulation
Price point
$8.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.

The top 10 games average 94% positive over 21,983 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $5.1k, median $9.6k, 1 in 4 over $98k, 1 in 20 over $12M.

3 in 10 developers made under $5.1k. 6 in 10 of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 31 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Character CustomizationFair19 devs · median $7.2k · 24 announced
  2. + PvPFair10 devs · median $5.7k · 11 announced
  3. + 3D PlatformerFair13 devs · median $3.1k · 12 announced
  4. + RacingFair39 devs · median $2.3k · 35 announced
  5. + Action-AdventureFair21 devs · median $2.3k · 22 announced
  6. + LogicFair29 devs · median $1.7k · 30 announced
  7. + ArcadeFair37 devs · median $839 · 32 announced
  8. + IdlerFair15 devs · median $747 · 20 announced
  9. + Co-opPoor odds17 devs · median $369k · 25 announced
  10. + Online Co-OpPoor odds14 devs · median $369k · 25 announced
  11. + Level EditorPoor odds10 devs · median $43k · 17 announced
  12. + Life SimPoor odds24 devs · median $27k · 48 announced

All 53 pairs on the Transportation page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Transport Fever 2 older $39.99 26,714 89% 801k $32M (exactly $32,048,786) Urban Games
shapez 2 - Factory $29.99 13,846 96% 415k $12M (exactly $12,457,246) tobspr Games
Derail Valley · EA older $39.99 9,442 96% 283k $11M (exactly $11,327,567) Altfuture
Transport Fever older $29.99 9,278 82% 278k $8.3M (exactly $8,347,417) Urban Games
Mars First Logistics $19.99 3,497 94% 105k $2.1M (exactly $2,097,151) Shape Shop
Mashinky · EA older $24.99 2,361 84% 71k $1.8M (exactly $1,770,042) Jan Zelený
Plan B: Terraform $15.99 3,526 91% 106k $1.7M (exactly $1,691,422) Gaddy Games
Train Fever older $19.99 2,765 61% 83k $1.7M (exactly $1,658,170) Urban Games
Sweet Transit older $34.99 1,119 67% 34k $1.2M (exactly $1,174,614) Ernestas Norvaišas
Overcrowd: A Commute 'Em Up older $19.99 1,701 81% 51k $1.0M (exactly $1,020,090) SquarePlay Games
Mini Settlers $12.99 592 85% 18k $231k (exactly $230,702) Knight Owl Games
Super Loco World - Cozy Train Automation $9.99 329 76% 9.9k $99k (exactly $98,601) Andrii Bychkovskyi
City Painter · EA $9.99 58 96% 1.7k $17k (exactly $17,383) Blunix Games
Speed Demons 2 $14.99 26 92% 780 $12k (exactly $11,692) Radiangames
Octohill Ski Tycoon $8.99 41 85% 1.2k $11k (exactly $11,058) DeuxBaguettes
Stoplights $8.99 39 89% 1.2k $11k (exactly $10,518) Wicked Blobfish
Iron Roads · EA $10.99 29 72% 870 $9.6k (exactly $9,561) Cowleyfornia Studios

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