Do I ship it?

Games › Space Sim › Space Sim + Time Manipulation

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Time Manipulation Space Sim?

Space Sim + Time Manipulation

Only 10 developers shipped a Time Manipulation Space Sim 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, Accretion, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 9 more are announced.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $150, ×0.2 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $50. Revenue is down 100% on the market, with 9 games announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 0.2 times the market baseline, revenue down 100% on the market, 9 announced, ×1.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Space Sim + Time Manipulation
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 10
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $809 → $0 (still earning) → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Space Sim + Time Manipulation: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 10
Bottom 30% $0 (exactly $0)
Median $150 (exactly $150)
Top 25% $809 (exactly $809)
Top 5% $6.3k (exactly $6,294)
Developers, 2 yr 10
Released games 26
Announced 9
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $10.00

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 too few recent games to read momentum, supply 50% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 12%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Space Sim
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Time Manipulation
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Space Sim, Time Manipulation
Price point
$10.00 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 5 games average 47% positive over 32 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $50, median $150, 1 in 4 over $800, 1 in 20 over $6.2k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. 9 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Space Sim with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + DestructionFair14 devs · median $3.7k · 22 announced
  2. + Female ProtagonistFair9 devs · median $3.6k · 12 announced
  3. + Tactical RPGFair9 devs · median $1.8k · 15 announced
  4. + WarFair34 devs · median $1.3k · 42 announced
  5. + Walking SimulatorFair16 devs · median $598 · 20 announced
  6. + SportsFair8 devs · median $479 · 9 announced
  7. + DiplomacyLong shot7 devs · median $360 · 14 announced
  8. + MilitaryPoor odds18 devs · median $6.3k · 39 announced
  9. + Online Co-OpPoor odds18 devs · median $4.9k · 63 announced
  10. + Strategy RPGPoor odds8 devs · median $4.9k · 21 announced
  11. + SandboxPoor odds86 devs · median $4.6k · 213 announced
  12. + Colony SimPoor odds42 devs · median $4.6k · 91 announced

All 114 pairs on the Space Sim page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Spaceport Trading Company 2023 · EA · $15k Timewell: Trail of Celestes 2022 · $11k Accretion 2025 · $6.3k T. B. P. 2021 · $6.0k Astro VR 2024 · $3.8k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Spaceport Trading Company · EA older $14.99 33 87% 990 $15k (exactly $14,840) Digital Tectonics, LLC
Timewell: Trail of Celestes older $17.99 20 85% 600 $11k (exactly $10,794) OZBER CIN
Accretion $9.99 21 38% 630 $6.3k (exactly $6,294) ValarFerys
T. B. P. older $24.99 8 87% 240 $6.0k (exactly $5,998) Laush Dmitriy Sergeevich
Astro VR older $5.99 21 100% 630 $3.8k (exactly $3,774) Light-Year Simulations, LLC
Macht: Cosmic Engine · EA $24.99 5 80% 150 $3.7k (exactly $3,748) Kestro Games
Station Commander older $7.99 5 60% 150 $1.2k (exactly $1,198) Ben Marks Game Studios
Аlien cat 4 older $2.99 13 92% 390 $1.2k (exactly $1,166) Repa games
Rocket Simulator $8.99 3 33% 90 $809 (exactly $809) Digital Traveller Praha
Space Station Escape older $3.99 6 100% 180 $718 (exactly $718) SOGA Std
Space Outpost Sigma $4.99 2 100% 60 $299 (exactly $299) SigmaReels
D.I.G. — Discover Infinite Galaxies · EA $4.99 1 0% 30 $150 (exactly $150) BloomSpaceGames
Angry Universe VR $14.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) RottacaStudios
Signs and Seasons Explorer $10.00 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) Great Wall Studio
Skyos · EA $19.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) SkyOS Labs
Time Dilation Lab $9.00 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) Logan Bier
Contraband: Edge of the Fold $14.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) Dero Lavigne

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.