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 + Job Simulator Strong odds $57k 36 devs
  2. Open World Survival Craft + Automation Fair $307k 28 devs
  3. Class-Based + Automation Fair $6.6k 19 devs
  4. Automation + Mining Fair $4.9k 105 devs
  5. Automation + Auto Battler Fair $4.5k 112 devs
  6. Automation + Programming Fair $3.8k 84 devs
  7. Automation + Fishing Fair $3.4k 40 devs
  8. Automation + Turn-Based Tactics Fair $2.9k 28 devs
  9. Automation + Deckbuilding Fair $2.8k 44 devs
  10. Automation + Sports Fair $1.9k 18 devs
  11. Automation + Racing Fair $1.9k 11 devs
  12. Automation + Word Game Fair $1.6k 12 devs
  13. Automation + Incremental Fair $1.3k 431 devs
  14. Automation + Idler Fair $1.2k 537 devs
  15. Automation + Time Management Fair $1.2k 162 devs
  16. Automation + Puzzle Fair $1.0k 135 devs
  17. Automation + Grid-Based Movement Fair $959 28 devs
  18. Automation + Arcade Fair $718 114 devs
  19. Automation + Board Game Fair $600 21 devs
  20. Automation + Point & Click Fair $538 140 devs
  21. Automation + 3D Platformer Fair $450 25 devs
  22. Automation + Platformer Fair $449 13 devs
  23. Automation + Level Editor Long shot $300 27 devs
  24. Co-op + Automation Poor odds $369k 48 devs
  25. Online Co-Op + Automation Poor odds $71k 43 devs
  26. Automation + Asynchronous Multiplayer Poor odds $56k 12 devs
  27. Automation + Driving Poor odds $44k 24 devs
  28. Open World + Automation Poor odds $38k 84 devs
  29. Automobile Sim + Automation Poor odds $35k 13 devs
  30. Automation + Survival Poor odds $31k 98 devs
  31. Automation + Exploration Poor odds $21k 144 devs
  32. Automation + Party-Based RPG Poor odds $21k 14 devs
  33. Automation + Hack and Slash Poor odds $21k 12 devs
  34. Automation + Colony Sim Poor odds $13k 103 devs
  35. Automation + Base Building Poor odds $11k 251 devs
  36. Automation + Building Poor odds $11k 353 devs
  37. Action-Adventure + Automation Poor odds $11k 31 devs
  38. Immersive Sim + Automation Poor odds $10k 144 devs
  39. Automation + Adventure Poor odds $9.8k 123 devs
  40. Automation + City Builder Poor odds $7.9k 116 devs
  41. Automation + Sandbox Poor odds $7.6k 312 devs
  42. Automation + Life Sim Poor odds $7.3k 154 devs
  43. Automation + Shop Keeper Poor odds $6.8k 59 devs
  44. Automation + Dungeon Crawler Poor odds $6.5k 24 devs
  45. Action RPG + Automation Poor odds $6.5k 21 devs
  46. PvP + Automation Poor odds $6.3k 23 devs
  47. Automation + Crafting Poor odds $6.0k 287 devs
  48. Automation + Destruction Poor odds $6.0k 22 devs
  49. Automation + Character Customization Poor odds $5.6k 87 devs
  50. Automation + Procedural Generation Poor odds $5.3k 101 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.