Games › Sandbox › Sandbox + Western
Should I ship a Western Sandbox?
Sandbox + Western
Only 13 developers shipped a Western Sandbox 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, Saloon Simulator, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 25 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 $51k, ×82 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $24k; 1 in 20 cleared $480k, ×780 the market median. Revenue is down 50% on the market; 25 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $24k (exactly $23,706) |
|---|---|
| Median | $51k (exactly $51,283) |
| Top 25% | $191k (exactly $190,849) |
| Top 5% | $490k (exactly $489,942) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 13 |
| Released games | 47 |
| Announced | 25 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $18.99 |
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 50% on the market, supply 60% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 11%, 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
- Sandbox; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Building, Crafting, Exploration
- Price point
- $18.99 typical · top 25% priced $39.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, Cozy, Cute
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $39.99 or above; the middle game at $18.99.
The top 10 games average 79% positive over 2,643 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $24k. 5 in 10 of the 6 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 25 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Sandbox with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FightingStrong odds
- + Turn-BasedFair
- + World War IIFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + ProgrammingFair
- + CatsFair
- + SportsFair
- + GamblingFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + Combat RacingFair
- + Trading Card GameFair
- + IdlerFair
Comparable games
Red Dead Redemption 2 2019 · $1.5B 
Fallout: New Vegas 2010 · $63M 
Railway Empire 2018 · $6.5M 
This Land Is My Land 2021 · $3.8M 
Railway Empire 2 2023 · $2.9M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Red Dead Redemption 2 | older | $59.99 | 846,270 92% | 25M | $1.5B (exactly $1,523,032,119) | Rockstar Games |
| | Fallout: New Vegas | older | $9.99 | 211,748 95% | 6.4M | $63M (exactly $63,460,876) | Obsidian Entertainment |
| | Railway Empire | older | $29.99 | 7,219 82% | 217k | $6.5M (exactly $6,494,934) | Gaming Minds Studios |
| | This Land Is My Land | older | $29.99 | 4,248 68% | 127k | $3.8M (exactly $3,821,926) | Game-Labs |
| | Railway Empire 2 | older | $49.99 | 1,966 72% | 59k | $2.9M (exactly $2,948,410) | Gaming Minds Studios |
 | SteamWorld Dig | older | $9.99 | 6,509 94% | 195k | $2.0M (exactly $1,950,747) | Image & Form Games |
 | Heat | older | $19.99 | 2,612 49% | 78k | $1.6M (exactly $1,566,416) | Code}{atch |
 | SteamWorld Build | older | $24.99 | 1,884 83% | 57k | $1.4M (exactly $1,412,435) | The Station |
 | GUN™ | older | $19.99 | 2,102 91% | 63k | $1.3M (exactly $1,260,569) | Neversoft |
 | Railroad Corporation | older | $35.99 | 1,094 74% | 33k | $1.2M (exactly $1,181,192) | Corbie Games |
 | Saloon Simulator | · EA | $18.99 | 860 89% | 26k | $490k (exactly $489,942) | Glivi Games S.A. |
 | Railroad Corporation 2 | $39.99 | 376 69% | 11k | $451k (exactly $451,087) | Corbie Games | |
 | Wild Indigo Ranch | $19.99 | 424 68% | 13k | $254k (exactly $254,273) | Funday Games | |
 | Cattle Country | $18.99 | 335 86% | 10k | $191k (exactly $190,849) | Castle Pixel, LLC. | |
 | Deep Corp | · EA | $11.99 | 365 89% | 11k | $131k (exactly $131,290) | KishMish Games |
 | Western Rye | · EA | $21.99 | 104 53% | 3.1k | $69k (exactly $68,609) | Nixalon Studios |
 | Frontier Legends | · EA | $29.99 | 57 40% | 1.7k | $51k (exactly $51,283) | Neojac Entertainment Inc. |
 | I Want to Believe | $16.99 | 47 80% | 1.4k | $24k (exactly $23,956) | Fang's Lab | |
 | Ranchbound | · EA | $17.99 | 44 50% | 1.3k | $24k (exactly $23,747) | Eldersong Games |
 | Union Of Rivals | · EA | $25.49 | 31 64% | 930 | $24k (exactly $23,706) | 2Play |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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