Do I ship it?

Games › Resource Management › Resource Management + Sci-fi

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Sci-fi Resource Management game?

Resource Management + Sci-fi

Of 361 developers who shipped a Sci-fi 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.. 800 more are announced, ×3.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $1.8k, ×3.8 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $1.2M, ×2563 the market median. Revenue is up 45% on the market; 800 games are announced against 253 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.8 times the market baseline, revenue up 45% on the market, 800 announced, ×3.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Resource Management + Sci-fi
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 361
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $7.8k → $3.1k → $21k → $479 → $3.1k → $2.7k → $4.1k (still earning) → $599 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Resource Management + Sci-fi: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 361
Bottom 30% $360 (exactly $360)
Median $1.8k (exactly $1,797)
Top 25% $24k (exactly $23,740)
Top 5% $1.2M (exactly $1,217,391)
Developers, 2 yr 361
Released games 774
Announced 800
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $7.99

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 45% on the market, supply 130% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 10%, 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.

Resource Management
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
Sci-fi
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
Resource Management; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Base Building, Simulation
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 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 $24.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 85% positive over 80,462 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 $1.8k, 1 in 4 over $23k, 1 in 20 over $1.2M.

3 in 10 developers made under $360. 8 in 10 of the 126 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 800 games are announced against 253 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.2 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Resource Management with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Artificial IntelligenceFair102 devs · median $11k · 131 announced
  2. + DwarvesFair15 devs · median $11k · 24 announced
  3. + WesternFair19 devs · median $7.0k · 26 announced
  4. + SnowFair24 devs · median $3.8k · 36 announced
  5. + JRPGFair36 devs · median $2.7k · 27 announced
  6. + UnderwaterFair51 devs · median $2.3k · 74 announced
  7. + CollectathonFair167 devs · median $1.9k · 222 announced
  8. + IncrementalFair630 devs · median $1.8k · 1,025 announced
  9. + IdlerFair656 devs · median $1.6k · 979 announced
  10. + ArcadeFair322 devs · median $1.5k · 495 announced
  11. + HorsesFair11 devs · median $1.2k · 18 announced
  12. + Quick-Time EventsFair46 devs · median $719 · 55 announced

All 214 pairs on the Resource Management page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Satisfactory 2024 · $282M Oxygen Not Included 2019 · $101M Jurassic World Evolution 2 2021 · $71M Jurassic World Evolution 2018 · $65M Dyson Sphere Program 2021 · EA · $50M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Satisfactory older $39.99 234,993 97% 7.0M $282M (exactly $281,921,102) Coffee Stain Studios
Oxygen Not Included older $24.99 135,337 96% 4.1M $101M (exactly $101,462,149) Klei Entertainment
Jurassic World Evolution 2 older $59.99 39,644 90% 1.2M $71M (exactly $71,347,307) Frontier Developments
Jurassic World Evolution older $44.99 48,311 87% 1.4M $65M (exactly $65,205,357) Frontier Developments
Dyson Sphere Program · EA older $19.99 83,523 97% 2.5M $50M (exactly $50,088,743) Youthcat Studio
The Planet Crafter older $23.99 68,855 96% 2.1M $50M (exactly $49,554,944) Miju Games
SPORE™ older $19.99 66,871 92% 2.0M $40M (exactly $40,102,539) Maxis™
Jurassic World Evolution 3 $59.99 11,387 93% 342k $20M (exactly $20,493,184) Frontier Developments
The Alters $34.99 15,330 90% 460k $16M (exactly $16,091,901) 11 bit studios
Cronos: The New Dawn $59.99 7,753 87% 233k $14M (exactly $13,953,074) Bloober Team
The Last Caretaker · EA $34.99 13,178 86% 395k $14M (exactly $13,832,947) Channel37 Ltd
Space Haven $24.99 10,267 85% 308k $7.7M (exactly $7,697,170) Bugbyte Ltd.
Forever Skies $29.99 8,138 78% 244k $7.3M (exactly $7,321,759) Far From Home
The Crust $31.99 3,502 76% 105k $3.4M (exactly $3,360,869) VEOM Studio
Techtonica $29.99 3,076 64% 92k $2.8M (exactly $2,767,477) Fire Hose Games
Tower Dominion $17.49 5,117 85% 154k $2.7M (exactly $2,684,890) Parallel 45 Games
Occupy Mars: The Game $29.99 2,714 68% 81k $2.4M (exactly $2,441,786) ▲ Pyramid Games

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