Do I ship it?

Games › Mechanics › Automation

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Automation game?

Automation

Of 1,112 developers who shipped an Automation 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.. 1,783 more are announced, ×2.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $2.0k, ×3.2 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $480k, ×778 the market median. Revenue is up 30% on the market; 1,783 games are announced against 812 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.2 times the market baseline, revenue up 30% on the market, 1,783 announced, ×2.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Automation
Fig. 1 · this niche among 355
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 1,112
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.4k → $5.5k → $4.1k → $3.1k → $2.3k → $2.7k → $2.8k (still earning) → $807 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Automation: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 1,112
Bottom 30% $449 (exactly $449)
Median $2.0k (exactly $2,035)
Top 25% $22k (exactly $21,593)
Top 5% $489k (exactly $488,802)
Developers, 2 yr 1,112
Released games 2,086
Announced 1,783
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $5.99

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 30% on the market, supply 155% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 14%, 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.

Automation
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 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
Automation
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 94% positive over 842,903 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $450, median $2.0k, 1 in 4 over $21k, 1 in 20 over $480k.

3 in 10 developers made under $450. 7 in 10 of the 388 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 1,783 games are announced against 812 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.2 per shipper.

Plate 6 · every pair with this tag

All pairs with Automation

104 pairs with a mechanicwith: mechanics · settings · any
  1. Automation + Transportation Poor odds $5.3k 30 devs
  2. Automation + RPG Poor odds $5.1k 154 devs
  3. Automation + Trading Poor odds $4.9k 73 devs
  4. Automation + Roguelite Poor odds $4.8k 100 devs
  5. Automation + Loot Poor odds $4.8k 58 devs
  6. Automation + Roguelike Poor odds $4.5k 78 devs
  7. Automation + Action Roguelike Poor odds $4.0k 19 devs
  8. FPS + Automation Poor odds $3.8k 14 devs
  9. Automation + Creature Collector Poor odds $3.7k 71 devs
  10. Automation + Combat Poor odds $3.5k 85 devs
  11. Automation + Resource Management Poor odds $3.3k 515 devs
  12. Automation + Management Poor odds $3.3k 529 devs
  13. Automation + PvE Poor odds $3.1k 71 devs
  14. Automation + Inventory Management Poor odds $3.0k 108 devs
  15. Automation + Cooking Poor odds $2.9k 39 devs
  16. Automation + Desktop Companion Poor odds $2.8k 51 devs
  17. Automation + Simulation Poor odds $2.7k 764 devs
  18. Automation + Gambling Poor odds $2.6k 24 devs
  19. Automation + Economy Poor odds $2.5k 334 devs
  20. Automation + Strategy Poor odds $2.5k 524 devs
  21. Automation + Card Battler Poor odds $2.5k 21 devs
  22. Automation + Farming Sim Poor odds $2.4k 137 devs
  23. RTS + Automation Poor odds $2.4k 55 devs
  24. Automation + Collectathon Poor odds $2.3k 87 devs
  25. Action RTS + Automation Poor odds $2.3k 12 devs
  26. Automation + Agriculture Poor odds $2.2k 53 devs
  27. Automation + Physics Poor odds $2.0k 89 devs
  28. Automation + God Game Poor odds $2.0k 38 devs
  29. Automation + Time Manipulation Poor odds $1.9k 8 devs
  30. Automation + Turn-Based Combat Poor odds $1.9k 23 devs
  31. Automation + Action Poor odds $1.8k 114 devs
  32. Automation + Bullet Hell Poor odds $1.7k 27 devs
  33. Automation + Turn-Based Strategy Poor odds $1.7k 28 devs
  34. Automation + Logic Poor odds $1.6k 129 devs
  35. Automation + Multiple Endings Poor odds $1.6k 25 devs
  36. Automation + Space Sim Poor odds $1.5k 39 devs
  37. Automation + Flight Poor odds $1.3k 8 devs
  38. Automation + Wargame Poor odds $1.3k 13 devs
  39. Automation + Choices Matter Poor odds $1.3k 64 devs
  40. Automation + Real Time Tactics Poor odds $1.1k 46 devs
  41. Automation + Interactive Fiction Poor odds $1.0k 9 devs
  42. Automation + Strategy RPG Poor odds $987 39 devs
  43. Automation + Tower Defense Poor odds $959 63 devs
  44. Automation + Tactical Poor odds $959 45 devs
  45. Automation + Tabletop Poor odds $600 22 devs
  46. Grand Strategy + Automation Poor odds $600 13 devs
  47. Automation + Score Attack Poor odds $478 29 devs
  48. Automation + Card Game Poor odds $450 42 devs
  49. Automation + Shooter Dead $449 35 devs
  50. Automation + Shoot 'Em Up Dead $449 14 devs
Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Palworld 2026 · $371M Satisfactory 2024 · $282M Factorio 2020 · $201M Schedule I 2025 · EA · $173M ASTRONEER 2019 · $107M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Palworld $29.99 411,947 94% 12M $371M (exactly $370,628,716) Pocketpair
Satisfactory older $39.99 234,993 97% 7.0M $282M (exactly $281,921,102) Coffee Stain Studios
Factorio older $35.00 191,814 97% 5.8M $201M (exactly $201,404,700) Wube Software LTD.
Schedule I · EA $19.99 288,939 97% 8.7M $173M (exactly $173,276,718) TVGS
ASTRONEER older $29.99 118,844 91% 3.6M $107M (exactly $106,923,947) System Era Softworks
Dyson Sphere Program · EA older $19.99 83,523 97% 2.5M $50M (exactly $50,088,743) Youthcat Studio
The Planet Crafter older $23.99 68,855 96% 2.1M $50M (exactly $49,554,944) Miju Games
Stormworks: Build and Rescue older $24.99 54,649 90% 1.6M $41M (exactly $40,970,355) Geometa
Timberborn $34.99 38,529 95% 1.2M $40M (exactly $40,443,891) Mechanistry
Soulmask $29.99 18,445 76% 553k $17M (exactly $16,594,966) CampFire Studio
RoadCraft $39.99 13,527 74% 406k $16M (exactly $16,228,342) Saber Interactive
The Last Caretaker · EA $34.99 13,178 86% 395k $14M (exactly $13,832,947) Channel37 Ltd
shapez 2 - Factory $29.99 13,846 96% 415k $12M (exactly $12,457,246) tobspr Games
Necesse $14.99 24,425 93% 733k $11M (exactly $10,983,922) Fair Games ApS
StarRupture · EA $19.99 12,333 80% 370k $7.4M (exactly $7,396,100) Creepy Jar
The Wandering Village $29.99 7,734 91% 232k $7.0M (exactly $6,958,280) Stray Fawn Studio

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