Do I ship it?

Games › Mechanics › Building

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Building game?

Building

Of 2,190 developers who shipped a Building 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.. 4,310 more are announced, ×3.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $4.0k, ×6.4 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $720; 1 in 20 cleared $1.6M, ×2675 the market median. Revenue is up 25% on the market; 4,310 games are announced against 1,337 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 6.4 times the market baseline, revenue up 25% on the market, 4,310 announced, ×3.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Building
Fig. 1 · this niche among 355
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 2,190
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $4.3k → $5.1k → $3.7k → $3.6k → $9.0k → $3.9k → $4.0k (still earning) → $2.7k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Building: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 2,190
Bottom 30% $719 (exactly $719)
Median $4.0k (exactly $4,047)
Top 25% $51k (exactly $51,249)
Top 5% $1.7M (exactly $1,679,740)
Developers, 2 yr 2,190
Released games 6,170
Announced 4,310
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $9.99

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 25% on the market, 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.

Building
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 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
Building
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 92% positive over 1,653,754 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $720, median $4.0k, 1 in 4 over $51k, 1 in 20 over $1.6M.

3 in 10 developers made under $720. 7 in 10 of the 1,025 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 4,310 games are announced against 1,337 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.2 per shipper.

Plate 6 · every pair with this tag

All pairs with Building

211 pairs · ranked by verdict, then medianwith: mechanics · settings · any
  1. Sandbox + Building Poor odds $12k 941 devs
  2. Automation + Building Poor odds $11k 353 devs
  3. Building + Turn-Based Combat Poor odds $11k 47 devs
  4. Building + Hack and Slash Poor odds $11k 37 devs
  5. Building + Medical Sim Poor odds $11k 14 devs
  6. Building + Transportation Poor odds $11k 62 devs
  7. Grand Strategy + Building Poor odds $10k 70 devs
  8. Building + Inventory Management Poor odds $10k 183 devs
  9. Building + Economy Poor odds $10k 639 devs
  10. Building + Programming Poor odds $10k 35 devs
  11. Flight + Building Poor odds $9.7k 26 devs
  12. Building + Exploration Poor odds $9.6k 591 devs
  13. Building + Political Sim Poor odds $9.6k 37 devs
  14. Building + Farming Sim Poor odds $9.5k 234 devs
  15. Building + Procedural Generation Poor odds $9.4k 233 devs
  16. Building + Crafting Poor odds $9.3k 688 devs
  17. Building + Animals Poor odds $9.3k 20 devs
  18. Building + Dragons Poor odds $9.3k 20 devs
  19. Building + Modern Poor odds $9.0k 70 devs
  20. RTS + Building Poor odds $9.0k 209 devs
  21. Building + Wargame Poor odds $9.0k 84 devs
  22. Racing + Building Poor odds $9.0k 43 devs
  23. Asynchronous Multiplayer + Building Poor odds $8.9k 12 devs
  24. Building + Management Poor odds $8.8k 944 devs
  25. Building + Post-apocalyptic Poor odds $8.7k 130 devs
  26. Building + Dinosaurs Poor odds $8.5k 13 devs
  27. Agriculture + Building Poor odds $8.0k 130 devs
  28. Building + Resource Management Poor odds $7.9k 810 devs
  29. Building + Steampunk Poor odds $7.9k 11 devs
  30. Survival + Building Poor odds $7.8k 504 devs
  31. Base Building + Building Poor odds $7.8k 906 devs
  32. Building + Horror Poor odds $7.3k 70 devs
  33. Building + Simulation Poor odds $7.3k 1,365 devs
  34. Building + Hacking Poor odds $7.3k 12 devs
  35. Building + Loot Poor odds $7.2k 48 devs
  36. Building + Psychological Horror Poor odds $7.2k 24 devs
  37. Building + Dungeon Crawler Poor odds $7.1k 58 devs
  38. Building + Military Poor odds $7.0k 89 devs
  39. Building + Mining Poor odds $6.7k 130 devs
  40. City Builder + Building Poor odds $6.6k 568 devs
  41. Building + Adventure Poor odds $6.5k 473 devs
  42. Building + Spaceships Poor odds $6.3k 14 devs
  43. Building + Mechs Poor odds $6.0k 17 devs
  44. Building + Pirates Poor odds $6.0k 17 devs
  45. Building + Naval Poor odds $6.0k 7 devs
  46. Building + God Game Poor odds $5.8k 74 devs
  47. Building + Roguelite Poor odds $5.7k 186 devs
  48. Building + Auto Battler Poor odds $5.7k 61 devs
  49. Building + Supernatural Poor odds $5.2k 14 devs
  50. Building + Dark Fantasy Poor odds $5.1k 62 devs
Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Rust 2018 · $1.4B Sid Meier’s Civilization® VI 2016 · $497M Valheim 2026 · $418M Stardew Valley 2016 · $402M Terraria 2011 · $372M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Rust older $39.99 1,167,920 87% 35M $1.4B (exactly $1,401,153,624) Facepunch Studios
Sid Meier’s Civilization® VI older $59.99 276,113 86% 8.3M $497M (exactly $496,920,566) Firaxis Games, Aspyr (Mac), Aspyr (Linu… (Firaxis Games, Aspyr (Mac), Aspyr (Linux))
Valheim $29.99 464,893 94% 14M $418M (exactly $418,264,232) Iron Gate AB
Stardew Valley older $14.99 894,201 98% 27M $402M (exactly $402,122,190) ConcernedApe
Terraria older $9.99 1,240,388 97% 37M $372M (exactly $371,744,284) Re-Logic
Palworld $29.99 411,947 94% 12M $371M (exactly $370,628,716) Pocketpair
7 Days to Die older $44.99 273,589 87% 8.2M $369M (exactly $369,263,073) The Fun Pimps
The Forest older $19.99 581,431 95% 17M $349M (exactly $348,684,171) Endnight Games Ltd
Garry's Mod older $9.99 1,093,131 96% 33M $328M (exactly $327,611,361) Facepunch Studios
Satisfactory older $39.99 234,993 97% 7.0M $282M (exactly $281,921,102) Coffee Stain Studios
Schedule I · EA $19.99 288,939 97% 8.7M $173M (exactly $173,276,718) TVGS
Dune: Awakening $49.99 66,844 71% 2.0M $100M (exactly $100,245,947) Funcom
Scrap Mechanic $28.99 109,429 92% 3.3M $95M (exactly $95,170,401) Axolot Games
The Scroll of Taiwu : Beyond The Dome $29.99 56,535 65% 1.7M $51M (exactly $50,864,540) ConchShip Games
My Summer Car $14.99 108,503 94% 3.3M $49M (exactly $48,793,799) Amistech Games
Supermarket Simulator $19.99 79,236 92% 2.4M $48M (exactly $47,517,829) Nokta Games
Europa Universalis V $59.99 25,353 66% 761k $46M (exactly $45,627,794) Paradox Tinto
Abiotic Factor $34.99 42,075 95% 1.3M $44M (exactly $44,166,128) Deep Field Games

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