Games › Programming › Programming + Space
Should I ship a Space Programming game?
Programming + Space
Only 10 developers shipped a Space Programming 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, Xenopurge, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 20 more are announced, ×2.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $21k, ×33 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $5.3k; 1 in 20 cleared $150k, ×250 the market median. Revenue is up 170% on the market; 20 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $5.3k (exactly $5,273) |
|---|---|
| Median | $21k (exactly $20,854) |
| Top 25% | $90k (exactly $89,955) |
| Top 5% | $157k (exactly $156,999) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 10 |
| Released games | 33 |
| Announced | 20 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 170% on the market, supply 135% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 12%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Space
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Programming
- Price point
- $9.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 10 games average 85% positive over 1,098 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $5.3k. 20 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Programming with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Base BuildingFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + RogueliteFair
- + SandboxFair
- + Time ManagementFair
- + AutomationFair
- + Turn-Based TacticsFair
- + SimulationFair
- + RobotsFair
- + CrimeFair
- + Sci-fiFair
- + FuturisticFair
Comparable games
Starbase 2021 · EA · $6.5M 
Juno: New Origins 2023 · $1.9M 
Duskers 2016 · $1.4M 
Infinifactory 2015 · $1.3M 
Nimbatus - The Space Drone Constructor 2020 · $1.1M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Starbase | · EA older | $34.99 | 6,217 56% | 187k | $6.5M (exactly $6,525,985) | Frozenbyte |
| | Juno: New Origins | older | $19.99 | 3,085 89% | 93k | $1.9M (exactly $1,850,074) | Jundroo, LLC |
| | Duskers | older | $19.99 | 2,304 90% | 69k | $1.4M (exactly $1,381,709) | Misfits Attic |
| | Infinifactory | older | $24.99 | 1,790 95% | 54k | $1.3M (exactly $1,341,963) | Zachtronics |
| | Nimbatus - The Space Drone Constructor | older | $19.99 | 1,758 78% | 53k | $1.1M (exactly $1,054,273) | Stray Fawn Studio |
 | SpaceChem | older | $9.99 | 2,626 95% | 79k | $787k (exactly $787,012) | Zachtronics |
 | Homebrew - Patent Unknown | · EA older | $14.99 | 828 71% | 25k | $372k (exactly $372,352) | Copybugpaste |
 | Xenopurge | $12.49 | 419 84% | 13k | $157k (exactly $156,999) | Traptics | |
 | Archean | · EA older | $19.99 | 241 87% | 7.2k | $145k (exactly $144,528) | batcholi, FloDKSM |
 | 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 | |
 | I Fetch Rocks | $15.99 | 110 94% | 3.3k | $53k (exactly $52,767) | SarumXR | |
 | Electrogical | $7.99 | 87 93% | 2.6k | $21k (exactly $20,854) | kinjo | |
 | Echoes of the Architects | $9.99 | 46 80% | 1.4k | $14k (exactly $13,786) | GFX47 | |
 | F.A.R.M.S.: Chill Factory | $7.99 | 22 72% | 660 | $5.3k (exactly $5,273) | Plema Crafts | |
 | GizmoLab VR | $9.99 | 6 83% | 180 | $1.8k (exactly $1,798) | De Martini Games | |
 | GRID/ | $4.99 | 5 100% | 150 | $748 (exactly $748) | NoeNoe Games | |
 | Robbie the Robot: Space Puzzles | $0.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $30 (exactly $30) | Stepanoff Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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