Do I ship it?

Games › Space Sim › Space Sim + Resource Management

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Resource Management Space Sim?

Space Sim + Resource Management

Of 80 developers who shipped a Resource Management 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.. 179 more are announced, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.9k, ×3.0 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $720; 1 in 20 cleared $1.4M, ×2289 the market median. Revenue is up 185% on the market; 179 games are announced against 58 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.0 times the market baseline, revenue up 185% on the market, 179 announced, ×3.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Space Sim + Resource Management
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 80
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $17k → $1.6k → $478 → $832 → $3.6k → $2.4k → $3.6k (still earning) → $1.2k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Space Sim + Resource Management: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 80
Bottom 30% $719 (exactly $719)
Median $1.9k (exactly $1,915)
Top 25% $18k (exactly $18,438)
Top 5% $1.4M (exactly $1,437,481)
Developers, 2 yr 80
Released games 179
Announced 179
Effort 6 / 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 185% on the market, supply 150% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 13%, 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.

Space Sim
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 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
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Space Sim, Resource Management; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Base Building, Sandbox
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 81% positive over 24,643 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $720, median $1.9k, 1 in 4 over $18k, 1 in 20 over $1.4M.

3 in 10 developers made under $720. 8 in 10 of the 29 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 179 games are announced against 58 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + DestructionFair14 devs · median $3.7k · 22 announced
  2. + Female ProtagonistFair9 devs · median $3.6k · 12 announced
  3. + Tactical RPGFair9 devs · median $1.8k · 15 announced
  4. + WarFair34 devs · median $1.3k · 42 announced
  5. + Walking SimulatorFair16 devs · median $598 · 20 announced
  6. + SportsFair8 devs · median $479 · 9 announced
  7. + DiplomacyLong shot7 devs · median $360 · 14 announced
  8. + MilitaryPoor odds18 devs · median $6.3k · 39 announced
  9. + Online Co-OpPoor odds18 devs · median $4.9k · 63 announced
  10. + Strategy RPGPoor odds8 devs · median $4.9k · 21 announced
  11. + SandboxPoor odds86 devs · median $4.6k · 213 announced
  12. + Colony SimPoor odds42 devs · median $4.6k · 91 announced

All 114 pairs on the Space Sim page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Oxygen Not Included 2019 · $101M Dyson Sphere Program 2021 · EA · $50M Space Haven 2026 · $7.7M Planetbase 2015 · $4.3M SpaceCraft 2026 · EA · $2.4M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Oxygen Not Included older $24.99 135,337 96% 4.1M $101M (exactly $101,462,149) Klei Entertainment
Dyson Sphere Program · EA older $19.99 83,523 97% 2.5M $50M (exactly $50,088,743) Youthcat Studio
Space Haven $24.99 10,267 85% 308k $7.7M (exactly $7,697,170) Bugbyte Ltd.
Planetbase older $14.99 9,558 79% 287k $4.3M (exactly $4,298,233) Madruga Works
SpaceCraft · EA $29.99 2,616 64% 78k $2.4M (exactly $2,353,615) Shiro Games
Astrometica · EA $19.99 2,912 82% 87k $1.7M (exactly $1,746,326) BeryMery
Mars Horizon older $19.99 2,757 84% 83k $1.7M (exactly $1,653,373) Auroch Digital
Astro Colony $19.99 2,397 80% 72k $1.4M (exactly $1,437,481) Terad Games
Industries of Titan older $29.99 1,553 61% 47k $1.4M (exactly $1,397,234) Brace Yourself Games
Stardeus · EA older $29.99 1,430 87% 43k $1.3M (exactly $1,286,571) Kodo Linija
Farlands $17.99 1,628 89% 49k $879k (exactly $878,632) JanduSoft, Eric Rodríguez
Solargene $34.99 777 77% 23k $816k (exactly $815,617) Alexander Semenov
Battlestar Galactica: Scattered Hopes $24.99 1,039 76% 31k $779k (exactly $778,938) Alt Shift
Solar Expanse - Space Exploration Manager · EA $17.99 1,252 87% 38k $676k (exactly $675,704) SpaceOps
Blossom: The Seed of Life $16.99 1,011 88% 30k $515k (exactly $515,307) Pebbledust Games
Stellar Settlers: Space Base Builder $11.99 744 69% 22k $268k (exactly $267,617) Tinymice Entertainment

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