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

155 pairs with a mechanicwith: mechanics · settings · any
  1. Building + Incremental Poor odds $2.1k 179 devs
  2. Building + Multiple Endings Poor odds $1.9k 41 devs
  3. Building + Choose Your Own Adventure Poor odds $1.9k 55 devs
  4. PvE + Building Poor odds $1.8k 209 devs
  5. Action-Adventure + Building Poor odds $1.8k 168 devs
  6. Building + Action Roguelike Poor odds $1.8k 77 devs
  7. Tactical + Building Poor odds $1.6k 194 devs
  8. Building + Point & Click Poor odds $1.6k 78 devs
  9. Building + Combat Poor odds $1.5k 242 devs
  10. Building + Tower Defense Poor odds $1.5k 284 devs
  11. Building + Local Multiplayer Poor odds $1.5k 28 devs
  12. Building + Logic Poor odds $1.4k 177 devs
  13. Real Time Tactics + Building Poor odds $1.4k 144 devs
  14. Shooter + Building Poor odds $1.4k 106 devs
  15. Building + Puzzle Poor odds $1.4k 255 devs
  16. Building + Time Manipulation Poor odds $1.4k 15 devs
  17. Building + Solitaire Poor odds $1.3k 14 devs
  18. Building + Walking Simulator Poor odds $1.2k 34 devs
  19. Building + Turn-Based Tactics Poor odds $1.1k 107 devs
  20. Building + Investigation Poor odds $1.0k 16 devs
  21. Building + Perma Death Poor odds $987 27 devs
  22. Third-Person Shooter + Building Poor odds $980 43 devs
  23. Building + Local Co-Op Poor odds $896 21 devs
  24. Building + Board Game Poor odds $839 54 devs
  25. Building + Hidden Object Poor odds $748 50 devs
  26. Building + Top-Down Shooter Poor odds $748 41 devs
  27. Building + Archery Poor odds $748 9 devs
  28. Building + Score Attack Poor odds $719 47 devs
  29. Building + Card Battler Poor odds $719 33 devs
  30. Building + 4 Player Local Poor odds $719 14 devs
  31. Trading Card Game + Building Poor odds $719 13 devs
  32. Building + Arcade Poor odds $629 138 devs
  33. Building + Bullet Hell Poor odds $539 44 devs
  34. Building + Shoot 'Em Up Poor odds $449 22 devs
  35. Building + Party Game Poor odds $419 20 devs
  36. Building + Mystery Dungeon Poor odds $178 11 devs
  37. MMORPG + Building Dead $49k 5 devs
  38. Building + Split Screen Dead $30k 10 devs
  39. Building + Match 3 Dead $12k 6 devs
  40. Building + Twin Stick Shooter Dead $4.1k 7 devs
  41. Building + Tanks Dead $1.3k 9 devs
  42. Battle Royale + Building Dead $480 5 devs
  43. 3D Fighter + Building Dead $479 11 devs
  44. Parkour + Building Dead $449 14 devs
  45. Arena Shooter + Building Dead $419 13 devs
  46. Building + Platformer Dead $359 51 devs
  47. Building + 2D Platformer Dead $330 66 devs
  48. 3D Platformer + Building Dead $299 89 devs
  49. Building + Precision Platformer Dead $299 15 devs
  50. Combat Racing + Building Dead $270 11 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.