Games › Simulation › Simulation + Robots
Should I ship a Robot Simulation game?
Simulation + Robots
Of 126 developers who shipped a Robot Simulation 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.. 246 more are announced, ×3.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.3k, ×2.0 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $280k, ×455 the market median. Revenue is down 30% on the market; 246 games are announced against 68 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $180 (exactly $180) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.3k (exactly $1,254) |
| Top 25% | $17k (exactly $17,083) |
| Top 5% | $286k (exactly $286,009) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 126 |
| Released games | 430 |
| Announced | 246 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 30% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 13%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Simulation
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Robots
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Simulation; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Sandbox, Exploration, Strategy
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, 2D, Cute
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 86% positive over 27,005 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $180. 7 in 10 of the 71 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 246 games are announced against 68 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.6 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Simulation with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Escape RoomStrong odds
- + World War IFair
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + PinballFair
- + Female ProtagonistFair
- + BirdsFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + MusicFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + ProgrammingFair
Comparable games
Call of Duty®: Black Ops III 2015 · $284M 
The Talos Principle 2014 · $26M 
Planetary Annihilation: TITANS 2015 · $10M 
Super Robot Wars 30 2021 · $10M 
Mechabellum 2024 · $8.0M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Call of Duty®: Black Ops III | older | $59.99 | 157,694 88% | 4.7M | $284M (exactly $283,801,892) | Treyarch, Aspyr (Mac) |
| | The Talos Principle | older | $29.99 | 29,237 95% | 877k | $26M (exactly $26,304,529) | Croteam |
| | Planetary Annihilation: TITANS | older | $29.99 | 11,401 84% | 342k | $10M (exactly $10,257,480) | Planetary Annihilation Inc |
| | Super Robot Wars 30 | older | $59.99 | 5,608 85% | 168k | $10M (exactly $10,092,718) | Bandai Namco Forge Digitals Inc. |
| | Mechabellum | $14.99 | 17,856 84% | 536k | $8.0M (exactly $8,029,843) | Game River | |
 | Starbase | · EA older | $34.99 | 6,217 56% | 187k | $6.5M (exactly $6,525,985) | Frozenbyte |
 | Five Nights at Freddy's: Help Wanted 2 | older | $39.99 | 5,092 94% | 153k | $6.1M (exactly $6,108,872) | Steel Wool Studios |
 | Phantom Brigade | older | $29.99 | 4,412 81% | 132k | $4.0M (exactly $3,969,476) | Brace Yourself Games |
 | Five Nights at Freddy's 4 | older | $7.99 | 15,483 93% | 464k | $3.7M (exactly $3,711,275) | Scott Cawthon |
 | Per Aspera | older | $29.99 | 4,105 76% | 123k | $3.7M (exactly $3,693,268) | Tlön Industries |
 | Mars First Logistics | $19.99 | 3,497 94% | 105k | $2.1M (exactly $2,097,151) | Shape Shop | |
 | IRON REBELLION | $24.99 | 772 84% | 23k | $579k (exactly $578,768) | Black Beach Studio | |
 | Microtopia | $19.99 | 881 87% | 26k | $528k (exactly $528,336) | Cordyceps Collective | |
 | Astronomics | · EA | $19.99 | 706 89% | 21k | $423k (exactly $423,388) | Numizmatic |
 | Granvir | $14.99 | 842 90% | 25k | $379k (exactly $378,647) | Airborne Games | |
 | Craftomation 101: Programming & Craft | $14.99 | 636 83% | 19k | $286k (exactly $286,009) | Luden.io | |
 | World End Diner | $16.99 | 415 93% | 12k | $212k (exactly $211,525) | Andymente | |
 | JOY OF PROGRAMMING - Software Engineering Simulator | $17.99 | 378 76% | 11k | $204k (exactly $204,007) | Prof. Scherer | |
 | You Know The Drill | $4.99 | 1,022 92% | 31k | $153k (exactly $152,993) | ludokai |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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