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Should I ship a Roguelike Space Sim?
Space Sim + Roguelike
Of 43 developers who shipped a Roguelike 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.. 65 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.9k, ×3.1 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $540; 1 in 20 cleared $770k, ×1240 the market median. Revenue is up 440% on the market; 65 games are announced against 26 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $539 (exactly $539) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.9k (exactly $1,918) |
| Top 25% | $19k (exactly $18,581) |
| Top 5% | $779k (exactly $778,938) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 43 |
| Released games | 100 |
| Announced | 65 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $5.99 |
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 440% on the market, supply 55% 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.
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Space Sim, Roguelike; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Exploration, Roguelite
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 79% positive over 12,240 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $540. 8 in 10 of the 18 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 65 games are announced against 26 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Space Sim with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + DestructionFair
- + Female ProtagonistFair
- + Tactical RPGFair
- + WarFair
- + Walking SimulatorFair
- + SportsFair
- + DiplomacyLong shot
- + MilitaryPoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
- + Strategy RPGPoor odds
- + SandboxPoor odds
- + Colony SimPoor odds
Comparable games
FTL: Faster Than Light 2012 · $19M 
EVERSPACE™ 2017 · $5.9M 
Star Trek: Voyager - Across the Unknown 2026 · $4.4M 
Ostranauts 2026 · $1.9M 
Shortest Trip to Earth 2019 · $980k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | FTL: Faster Than Light | older | $9.99 | 62,763 94% | 1.9M | $19M (exactly $18,810,071) | Subset Games |
| | EVERSPACE™ | older | $19.99 | 9,809 77% | 294k | $5.9M (exactly $5,882,457) | ROCKFISH Games |
| | Star Trek: Voyager - Across the Unknown | $34.99 | 4,162 79% | 125k | $4.4M (exactly $4,368,851) | Gamexcite | |
| | Ostranauts | $19.99 | 3,137 77% | 94k | $1.9M (exactly $1,881,259) | Blue Bottle Games | |
| | Shortest Trip to Earth | older | $25.99 | 1,257 76% | 38k | $980k (exactly $980,083) | Interactive Fate |
 | Genesis Alpha One Deluxe Edition | older | $19.99 | 1,566 73% | 47k | $939k (exactly $939,130) | Radiation Blue |
 | Space Crew: Legendary Edition | older | $15.99 | 1,684 77% | 51k | $808k (exactly $807,815) | Runner Duck |
 | Battlestar Galactica: Scattered Hopes | $24.99 | 1,039 76% | 31k | $779k (exactly $778,938) | Alt Shift | |
 | The Long Journey Home | older | $9.99 | 1,329 57% | 40k | $398k (exactly $398,301) | Daedalic Studio West |
 | Approaching Infinity | $17.99 | 723 95% | 22k | $390k (exactly $390,203) | IBOL | |
 | Nonentity Galaxy | $9.99 | 587 94% | 18k | $176k (exactly $175,924) | Brick-Up Studio | |
 | Drifter Star: Evolution | $3.99 | 1,165 73% | 35k | $139k (exactly $139,450) | Kayla Studio | |
 | Void Miner – Incremental Asteroids Roguelite | $5.99 | 698 83% | 21k | $125k (exactly $125,431) | RyanJakob | |
 | Star Survivor | $4.99 | 540 67% | 16k | $81k (exactly $80,838) | SpaceOwl Games, Erabit | |
 | Command Deck | · EA | $14.99 | 74 98% | 2.2k | $33k (exactly $33,278) | k-critical |
 | Endless Dark | $7.99 | 115 99% | 3.5k | $28k (exactly $27,566) | Little Light Studios, LLC |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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