Games › Simulation › Simulation + Spaceships
Should I ship a Spaceship Simulation game?
Simulation + Spaceships
Of 28 developers who shipped a Spaceship 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.. 39 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.5k, ×2.4 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $390; 1 in 20 cleared $660k, ×1058 the market median. Revenue is up 10% on the market; 39 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $386 (exactly $386) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.5k (exactly $1,499) |
| Top 25% | $22k (exactly $21,923) |
| Top 5% | $664k (exactly $664,468) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 28 |
| Released games | 86 |
| Announced | 39 |
| 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 up 10% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 8%, 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
- Spaceships
- 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 Strategy, Building, Management
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 77% positive over 5,723 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $390. 7 in 10 of the 15 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 39 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 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
STAR WARS™: Squadrons 2020 · $30M 
Avorion 2020 · $9.7M 
Cosmoteer: Starship Architect & Commander 2022 · EA · $7.2M 
Spaceflight Simulator 2022 · EA · $4.2M 
Starpoint Gemini Warlords 2017 · $3.2M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | STAR WARS™: Squadrons | older | $39.99 | 25,086 66% | 753k | $30M (exactly $30,095,674) | MOTIVE |
| | Avorion | older | $24.99 | 13,001 90% | 390k | $9.7M (exactly $9,746,850) | Boxelware |
| | Cosmoteer: Starship Architect & Commander | · EA older | $19.99 | 12,013 94% | 360k | $7.2M (exactly $7,204,196) | Walternate Realities |
| | Spaceflight Simulator | · EA older | $14.99 | 9,431 96% | 283k | $4.2M (exactly $4,241,121) | Team Curiosity ✦ |
| | Starpoint Gemini Warlords | older | $34.99 | 3,076 72% | 92k | $3.2M (exactly $3,228,877) | Little Green Men Games |
 | Starpoint Gemini 2 | older | $34.99 | 3,021 70% | 91k | $3.2M (exactly $3,171,144) | Little Green Men Games |
 | PULSAR: Lost Colony | older | $19.99 | 4,409 89% | 132k | $2.6M (exactly $2,644,077) | Leafy Games |
 | Ostranauts | $19.99 | 3,137 77% | 94k | $1.9M (exactly $1,881,259) | Blue Bottle Games | |
 | Starship EVO | · EA older | $24.99 | 1,322 82% | 40k | $991k (exactly $991,103) | Moonfire Entertainment |
 | Shortest Trip to Earth | older | $25.99 | 1,257 76% | 38k | $980k (exactly $980,083) | Interactive Fate |
 | Uncle Chop's Rocket Shop | $19.99 | 1,108 84% | 33k | $664k (exactly $664,468) | Beard Envy | |
 | Stellar Settlers: Space Base Builder | $11.99 | 744 69% | 22k | $268k (exactly $267,617) | Tinymice Entertainment | |
 | BattleGroupVR2 | · EA | $24.99 | 209 85% | 6.3k | $157k (exactly $156,687) | SpaceOwl Games |
 | Clonizer | $14.99 | 146 82% | 4.4k | $66k (exactly $65,656) | Juicy Plume | |
 | LUST Company 👾 | $9.99 | 155 65% | 4.7k | $46k (exactly $46,454) | Taboo Tales 💘 | |
 | Desk Space: Idle Spacefleet clicker | $5.99 | 122 70% | 3.7k | $22k (exactly $21,923) | Shotgun Anaconda | |
 | Stardust Exile | $14.99 | 44 70% | 1.3k | $20k (exactly $19,787) | Apseren | |
 | eXoSpace Combat Engineer | · EA | $14.99 | 44 81% | 1.3k | $20k (exactly $19,787) | Fantastimaker |
 | Leaks In Space | · EA | $14.99 | 14 71% | 420 | $6.3k (exactly $6,296) | Frostech Game Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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