Games › Transportation › Transportation + Time Management
Should I ship a Time Management Transportation game?
Transportation + Time Management
Of 40 developers who shipped a Time Management Transportation 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.. 61 more are announced, ×2.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $3.2k, ×5.2 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $95k, ×152 the market median. Revenue is up 245% on the market; 61 games are announced against 27 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $599 (exactly $599) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.2k (exactly $3,236) |
| Top 25% | $11k (exactly $11,058) |
| Top 5% | $95k (exactly $95,361) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 40 |
| Released games | 85 |
| Announced | 61 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $8.99 |
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 245% on the market, supply 110% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 7%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Transportation
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Time Management
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Transportation, Time Management; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Management, Driving
- Price point
- $8.99 typical · top 25% priced $15.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Relaxing, Minimalist
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $15.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.
The top 10 games average 74% positive over 8,997 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $600. 9 in 10 of the 14 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 61 games are announced against 27 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Transportation with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Character CustomizationFair
- + PvPFair
- + 3D PlatformerFair
- + RacingFair
- + Action-AdventureFair
- + LogicFair
- + ArcadeFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Co-opPoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
- + Level EditorPoor odds
- + Life SimPoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | The Bus | $39.99 | 7,831 73% | 235k | $9.4M (exactly $9,394,851) | TML-Studios | |
| | City Bus Manager | older | $29.99 | 2,405 90% | 72k | $2.2M (exactly $2,163,778) | PeDePe GbR |
| | Ships At Sea | · EA older | $24.99 | 2,479 69% | 74k | $1.9M (exactly $1,858,506) | Misc Games |
| | Rail Route | older | $24.99 | 2,400 88% | 72k | $1.8M (exactly $1,799,280) | Bitrich.info |
| | Fly Corp | older | $14.99 | 3,112 85% | 93k | $1.4M (exactly $1,399,466) | KishMish Games |
| | I am an Air Traffic Controller 4 | older | $59.99 | 566 79% | 17k | $1.0M (exactly $1,018,630) | TechnoBrain |
| | Train Valley | older | $9.99 | 2,621 89% | 79k | $786k (exactly $785,514) | Alexey Davydov, Sergey Dvoynikov, Timof… (Alexey Davydov, Sergey Dvoynikov, Timofey Shargorodskiy, Flazm) |
| | Mini Airways - ATC simulator | older | $9.99 | 1,339 92% | 40k | $401k (exactly $401,298) | CCC Games, Erabit |
| | Transport INC | older | $11.99 | 1,014 69% | 30k | $365k (exactly $364,736) | DIGIFOX |
| | Train Valley World | older | $19.99 | 247 69% | 7.4k | $148k (exactly $148,126) | Flazm |
| | Train Valley Origins | $11.95 | 266 75% | 8.0k | $95k (exactly $95,361) | Flazm | |
| | Global Magnates: Shipping Tycoon | $12.99 | 116 64% | 3.5k | $45k (exactly $45,205) | Aquila Chengdu | |
| | PROFITS 2167: Planetary Resource Optimization & Freight Infrastructure Technician Simulator | · EA | $6.99 | 209 98% | 6.3k | $44k (exactly $43,827) | Simple Software Solutions |
| | ATC Ground Point | $15.99 | 77 81% | 2.3k | $37k (exactly $36,937) | Blueon | |
| | Parcel Delivery Simulator | $6.99 | 114 61% | 3.4k | $24k (exactly $23,906) | Digital Melody | |
| | Short Trip | $1.99 | 280 98% | 8.4k | $17k (exactly $16,716) | Alexander Perrin | |
| | Airline Ops | · EA | $14.99 | 37 29% | 1.1k | $17k (exactly $16,639) | Smoky Bay Studio |
| | Uh Oh Airlines | · EA | $17.99 | 26 69% | 780 | $14k (exactly $14,032) | Bomas Game Studio |
| | Octohill Ski Tycoon | $8.99 | 41 85% | 1.2k | $11k (exactly $11,058) | DeuxBaguettes |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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