Do I ship it?

Games › Programming › Programming + Resource Management

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Programming Resource Management game?

Programming + Resource Management

Of 33 developers who shipped a Programming Resource Management game 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.. 44 more are announced.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $3.8k, ×7.9 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $1.6M, ×3559 the market median. Revenue is down 90% on the market; 44 games are announced against 28 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 7.9 times the market baseline, revenue down 90% on the market, 44 announced, ×1.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Programming + Resource Management
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 33
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $13k → $190k → $4.5k (still earning) → $359 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Programming + Resource Management: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 33
Bottom 30% $359 (exactly $359)
Median $3.8k (exactly $3,776)
Top 25% $90k (exactly $89,955)
Top 5% $1.7M (exactly $1,690,536)
Developers, 2 yr 33
Released games 68
Announced 44
Effort 4 / 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 down 90% on the market, supply 460% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 6%, 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.

Programming
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
Resource Management
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Programming, Resource Management; 9 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Automation, Simulation, Strategy
Price point
$8.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
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 89% positive over 14,332 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $360, median $3.8k, 1 in 4 over $89k, 1 in 20 over $1.6M.

3 in 10 developers made under $360. 5 in 10 of the 6 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 44 games are announced against 28 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Base BuildingFair13 devs · median $53k · 21 announced
  2. + Auto BattlerFair14 devs · median $14k · 14 announced
  3. + RogueliteFair24 devs · median $9.3k · 28 announced
  4. + SandboxFair60 devs · median $7.0k · 71 announced
  5. + Time ManagementFair15 devs · median $7.0k · 26 announced
  6. + AutomationFair84 devs · median $3.8k · 102 announced
  7. + Turn-Based TacticsFair14 devs · median $2.4k · 16 announced
  8. + SimulationFair132 devs · median $2.2k · 174 announced
  9. + RobotsFair24 devs · median $1.8k · 29 announced
  10. + CrimeFair12 devs · median $1.8k · 13 announced
  11. + Sci-fiFair56 devs · median $1.7k · 63 announced
  12. + FuturisticFair19 devs · median $1.2k · 25 announced

All 57 pairs on the Programming page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

The Farmer Was Replaced 2025 · $2.7M Autonauts 2019 · $2.2M Desynced 2026 · $1.7M Mad Games Tycoon 2016 · $1.7M Human Resource Machine 2015 · $1.5M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
The Farmer Was Replaced $9.99 9,116 95% 273k $2.7M (exactly $2,732,065) Timon Herzog
Autonauts older $19.99 3,596 90% 108k $2.2M (exactly $2,156,521) Denki
Desynced $29.99 1,879 79% 56k $1.7M (exactly $1,690,536) Stage Games Inc.
Mad Games Tycoon older $14.99 3,700 91% 111k $1.7M (exactly $1,663,890) Eggcode
Human Resource Machine older $14.99 3,274 94% 98k $1.5M (exactly $1,472,318) Tomorrow Corporation
Craftomation 101: Programming & Craft $14.99 636 83% 19k $286k (exactly $286,009) Luden.io
ServiceIT: You can do IT $12.99 676 56% 20k $263k (exactly $263,437) picture4u
Data Center $8.99 916 76% 27k $247k (exactly $247,045) Waseku
Automachef older $14.99 522 75% 16k $235k (exactly $234,743) Rhombico Games
Autonauts vs Piratebots older $19.99 334 80% 10k $200k (exactly $200,300) Denki
Tower Networking Inc. · EA $19.99 317 95% 9.5k $190k (exactly $190,105) Pocosia Studios
Craftlings $19.99 311 86% 9.3k $187k (exactly $186,507) ARIANO Games GmbH
Code: Terraform · EA $14.99 252 85% 7.6k $113k (exactly $113,324) AppsMafia
MegaFactory Titan $19.99 150 76% 4.5k $90k (exactly $89,955) Q Switched Productions, LLC
Icaria $24.99 79 75% 2.4k $59k (exactly $59,226) Blindsight Games LLC

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