Do I ship it?

Games › Resource Management › Resource Management + Steampunk

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Steampunk Resource Management game?

Resource Management + Steampunk

Only 19 developers shipped a Steampunk Resource Management 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, Frostpunk 2, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 52 more are announced, ×4.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $1.9k, ×3.0 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $750; 1 in 20 cleared $28M, ×44858 the market median. Revenue is down 95% on the market; 52 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.0 times the market baseline, revenue down 95% on the market, 52 announced, ×4.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Resource Management + Steampunk
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: $4.0k → $898 → $1.9k → $70k → $35k → $6.3k → $1.9k (still earning) → $150 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Resource Management + Steampunk: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 19
Bottom 30% $748 (exactly $748)
Median $1.9k (exactly $1,888)
Top 25% $35k (exactly $35,077)
Top 5% $28M (exactly $28,170,938)
Developers, 2 yr 19
Released games 47
Announced 52
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 down 95% on the market, supply 115% 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.

Resource Management
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
Steampunk
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 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
Resource Management; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Strategy, Survival
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $44.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $44.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 74% positive over 21,939 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $750, median $1.9k, 1 in 4 over $35k, 1 in 20 over $28M.

3 in 10 developers made under $750. 7 in 10 of the 6 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 52 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.0 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

Frostpunk 2018 · $103M They Are Billions 2019 · $42M Frostpunk 2 2024 · $28M Gloomwood 2022 · EA · $4.5M Airborne Kingdom 2022 · $1.6M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Frostpunk older $29.99 114,376 92% 3.4M $103M (exactly $102,904,087) 11 bit studios
They Are Billions older $29.99 46,223 85% 1.4M $42M (exactly $41,586,833) Numantian Games
Frostpunk 2 $44.99 20,872 74% 626k $28M (exactly $28,170,938) 11 bit studios
Gloomwood · EA older $19.99 7,495 95% 225k $4.5M (exactly $4,494,752) Dillon Rogers, David Szymanski, Nate Be… (Dillon Rogers, David Szymanski, Nate Berens, Thomas Porta)
Airborne Kingdom older $24.99 2,104 86% 63k $1.6M (exactly $1,577,369) The Wandering Band LLC
SteamWorld Build older $24.99 1,884 83% 57k $1.4M (exactly $1,412,435) The Station
Lethis - Path of Progress older $19.99 1,103 67% 33k $661k (exactly $661,469) Triskell Interactive
Merchant of the Skies older $14.99 1,437 87% 43k $646k (exactly $646,219) Coldwild Games
Dream Engines: Nomad Cities older $29.99 552 73% 17k $497k (exactly $496,634) Suncrash
Shardpunk older $13.99 739 92% 22k $310k (exactly $310,158) Clockwork Pile
Chocolate Factory Simulator $19.99 355 72% 11k $213k (exactly $212,893) Games Incubator
Steel Artery: Train City Builder $14.99 305 71% 9.2k $137k (exactly $137,158) SoulAge23
Snow Ash $14.99 179 73% 5.4k $80k (exactly $80,496) Ember Studio
Barrage $14.99 78 80% 2.3k $35k (exactly $35,077) Cranio Lab
The Fool's Apprentice $16.99 42 52% 1.3k $21k (exactly $21,407) The Planar Danse
HEXSTORM: Tears of Arcadia $8.99 56 75% 1.7k $15k (exactly $15,103) Tearevo
Drill Rift $14.99 24 75% 720 $11k (exactly $10,793) Steam Veil Games
Rhyolite $9.99 21 100% 630 $6.3k (exactly $6,294) Long Lost
Antidote to despair $8.99 7 85% 210 $1.9k (exactly $1,888) Gamet

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