Do I ship it?

GamesTransportationTransportation + Trading

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Trading Transportation game?

Transportation + Trading

Of 21 developers who shipped a Trading 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.. 40 more are announced, ×3.3 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 $73k, ×117 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 40 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 5.2 times the market baseline, revenue flat on the market, 40 announced, ×3.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Transportation + Trading
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 21
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.9k → $74k → $3.6k → $3.2k (still earning) → $599 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Transportation + Trading: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 21
Bottom 30% $599 (exactly $599)
Median $3.2k (exactly $3,236)
Top 25% $18k (exactly $18,217)
Top 5% $74k (exactly $73,751)
Developers, 2 yr 21
Released games 48
Announced 40
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 flat on the market, supply 35% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 13%, 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.

Transportation
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Trading
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Transportation, Trading; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Adventure, Immersive Sim
Price point
$8.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.

The top 10 games average 78% positive over 1,031 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $600, median $3.2k, 1 in 4 over $18k, 1 in 20 over $73k.

3 in 10 developers made under $600. 8 in 10 of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 40 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.3 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Character CustomizationFair19 devs · median $7.2k · 24 announced
  2. + PvPFair10 devs · median $5.7k · 11 announced
  3. + 3D PlatformerFair13 devs · median $3.1k · 12 announced
  4. + RacingFair39 devs · median $2.3k · 35 announced
  5. + Action-AdventureFair21 devs · median $2.3k · 22 announced
  6. + LogicFair29 devs · median $1.7k · 30 announced
  7. + ArcadeFair37 devs · median $839 · 32 announced
  8. + IdlerFair15 devs · median $747 · 20 announced
  9. + Co-opPoor odds17 devs · median $369k · 25 announced
  10. + Online Co-OpPoor odds14 devs · median $369k · 25 announced
  11. + Level EditorPoor odds10 devs · median $43k · 17 announced
  12. + Life SimPoor odds24 devs · median $27k · 48 announced

All 53 pairs on the Transportation page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Eco · EA older $29.99 11,375 80% 341k $10M (exactly $10,234,088) Strange Loop Games
Railway Empire older $29.99 7,219 82% 217k $6.5M (exactly $6,494,934) Gaming Minds Studios
Sailing Era older $24.99 4,565 78% 137k $3.4M (exactly $3,422,380) GY Games
Railway Empire 2 older $49.99 1,966 72% 59k $2.9M (exactly $2,948,410) Gaming Minds Studios
Rise of Industry older $29.99 3,122 74% 94k $2.8M (exactly $2,808,863) Dapper Penguin Studios
Sailwind · EA older $19.99 2,312 89% 69k $1.4M (exactly $1,386,506) Raw Lion Workshop
Frontier Pilot Simulator older $24.99 836 69% 25k $627k (exactly $626,749) RAZAR s.r.o.
Interstellar Transport Company older $24.99 395 65% 12k $296k (exactly $296,132) MT Worlds
Mad Tower Tycoon older $14.99 413 77% 12k $186k (exactly $185,726) Eggcode
A Merchant's Promise · EA $14.99 300 86% 9.0k $135k (exactly $134,910) Game Draft Studio
Ile d'Or · EA $14.99 164 88% 4.9k $74k (exactly $73,751) あとらそふと
Following Seas · EA $14.99 153 76% 4.6k $69k (exactly $68,804) Whipstaff Games
Global Magnates: Shipping Tycoon $12.99 116 64% 3.5k $45k (exactly $45,205) Aquila Chengdu
Parcel Delivery Simulator $6.99 114 61% 3.4k $24k (exactly $23,906) Digital Melody
Iron Village $7.99 76 89% 2.3k $18k (exactly $18,217) Lunar Chippy Games
Silk Roads II: Paths of Fortune $9.99 24 75% 720 $7.2k (exactly $7,193) Priory Games
Metro Mini Market Simulator $3.99 49 69% 1.5k $5.9k (exactly $5,865) Altai Entertainment
European Seafreight Tycoon · EA $12.99 15 66% 450 $5.8k (exactly $5,846) Warnicke Gamedesign
Truck City $5.99 20 80% 600 $3.6k (exactly $3,594) Mikel Fernandez

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