Games › Simulation › Simulation + Steampunk
Should I ship a Steampunk Simulation game?
Simulation + Steampunk
Of 30 developers who shipped a Steampunk 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.. 72 more are announced, ×3.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $7.9k, ×13 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $900; 1 in 20 cleared $7.9M, ×12680 the market median. Revenue is down 25% on the market; 72 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $899 (exactly $899) |
|---|---|
| Median | $7.9k (exactly $7,913) |
| Top 25% | $52k (exactly $51,782) |
| Top 5% | $8.0M (exactly $7,962,817) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 30 |
| Released games | 108 |
| Announced | 72 |
| 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 25% on the market, supply 135% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 12%, 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
- Steampunk
- 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 Resource Management, Strategy, Survival
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $39.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, 2D, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $39.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 83% positive over 35,910 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $900. 7 in 10 of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 72 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.4 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
Frostpunk 2018 · $103M 
Frostpunk 2 2024 · $28M 
IRON NEST: Heavy Turret Simulator 2026 · $8.0M 
Volcanoids 2019 · EA · $4.6M 
Opus Magnum 2017 · $3.6M | 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 |
| | Frostpunk 2 | $44.99 | 20,872 74% | 626k | $28M (exactly $28,170,938) | 11 bit studios | |
| | IRON NEST: Heavy Turret Simulator | $19.99 | 13,278 97% | 398k | $8.0M (exactly $7,962,817) | Nick Nieuwoudt, Dominik Latos | |
| | Volcanoids | · EA older | $19.99 | 7,679 83% | 230k | $4.6M (exactly $4,605,096) | Volcanoid |
| | Opus Magnum | older | $19.99 | 5,964 97% | 179k | $3.6M (exactly $3,576,611) | Zachtronics |
 | F.I.S.T.: Forged In Shadow Torch | older | $15.99 | 6,660 86% | 200k | $3.2M (exactly $3,194,802) | TiGames |
 | Railroader | · EA older | $29.99 | 3,343 96% | 100k | $3.0M (exactly $3,007,697) | Giraffe Lab LLC |
 | We Need To Go Deeper | older | $15.99 | 4,652 86% | 140k | $2.2M (exactly $2,231,564) | Deli Interactive LLC |
 | Black Skylands | older | $19.99 | 2,849 82% | 85k | $1.7M (exactly $1,708,545) | Hungry Couch Games |
 | Airborne Kingdom | older | $24.99 | 2,104 86% | 63k | $1.6M (exactly $1,577,369) | The Wandering Band LLC |
 | Amerzone - The Explorer's Legacy | $39.99 | 526 90% | 16k | $631k (exactly $631,042) | Microids Studio Paris | |
 | 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 | |
 | Bonaparte - A Mechanized Revolution | $24.99 | 72 68% | 2.2k | $54k (exactly $53,978) | Studio Imugi | |
 | ShipShaper: Falconeer Chronicles | · EA | $8.99 | 192 96% | 5.8k | $52k (exactly $51,782) | Tomas Sala |
 | The Fool's Apprentice | $16.99 | 42 52% | 1.3k | $21k (exactly $21,407) | The Planar Danse | |
 | Lust Poker Club | $7.99 | 89 78% | 2.7k | $21k (exactly $21,333) | Cutie Booty |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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