Do I ship it?

Games › Mechanics › Economy

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Economy game?

Economy

Of 1,743 developers who shipped an Economy 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.. 3,111 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $3.2k, ×5.1 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $660; 1 in 20 cleared $720k, ×1158 the market median. Revenue is down 35% on the market; 3,111 games are announced against 1,230 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 5.1 times the market baseline, revenue down 35% on the market, 3,111 announced, ×2.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Economy
Fig. 1 · this niche among 355
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 1,743
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $6.2k → $26k → $6.1k → $7.0k → $8.4k → $5.4k → $3.0k (still earning) → $1.3k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Economy: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 1,743
Bottom 30% $659 (exactly $659)
Median $3.2k (exactly $3,232)
Top 25% $32k (exactly $32,345)
Top 5% $727k (exactly $727,030)
Developers, 2 yr 1,743
Released games 3,758
Announced 3,111
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $7.99

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 down 35% on the market, supply 115% 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.

Economy
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
Economy
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 74% positive over 415,071 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $660, median $3.2k, 1 in 4 over $32k, 1 in 20 over $720k.

3 in 10 developers made under $660. 7 in 10 of the 681 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 3,111 games are announced against 1,230 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.

Plate 6 · every pair with this tag

All pairs with Economy

118 pairs with a mechanicwith: mechanics · settings · any
  1. Economy + Job Simulator Fair $22k 116 devs
  2. Football (Soccer) + Economy Fair $6.8k 21 devs
  3. Economy + Mining Fair $5.0k 116 devs
  4. Economy + Loot Fair $4.6k 74 devs
  5. Economy + Collectathon Fair $3.8k 125 devs
  6. Economy + God Game Fair $2.8k 47 devs
  7. Economy + Auto Battler Fair $2.4k 59 devs
  8. Economy + Idler Fair $2.3k 441 devs
  9. Economy + Incremental Fair $2.2k 408 devs
  10. Economy + Arcade Fair $2.1k 199 devs
  11. Economy + Strategy RPG Fair $2.0k 95 devs
  12. Economy + Grid-Based Movement Fair $1.2k 20 devs
  13. Economy + Turn-Based Poor odds $61k 16 devs
  14. Real-Time with Pause + Economy Poor odds $34k 23 devs
  15. Online Co-Op + Economy Poor odds $24k 92 devs
  16. Co-op + Economy Poor odds $24k 91 devs
  17. Economy + Fishing Poor odds $23k 49 devs
  18. 4X + Economy Poor odds $17k 61 devs
  19. Flight + Economy Poor odds $15k 20 devs
  20. Immersive Sim + Economy Poor odds $13k 439 devs
  21. Economy + Cooking Poor odds $12k 116 devs
  22. Automobile Sim + Economy Poor odds $12k 31 devs
  23. Economy + Visual Novel Poor odds $11k 26 devs
  24. Sandbox + Economy Poor odds $11k 532 devs
  25. Open World + Economy Poor odds $11k 155 devs
  26. Character Customization + Economy Poor odds $11k 123 devs
  27. Racing + Economy Poor odds $10k 27 devs
  28. Economy + Level Editor Poor odds $10k 20 devs
  29. Building + Economy Poor odds $10k 639 devs
  30. Economy + Programming Poor odds $10k 19 devs
  31. Base Building + Economy Poor odds $9.6k 331 devs
  32. City Builder + Economy Poor odds $9.6k 296 devs
  33. Diplomacy + Economy Poor odds $9.0k 77 devs
  34. RTS + Economy Poor odds $8.9k 142 devs
  35. Asynchronous Multiplayer + Economy Poor odds $8.9k 13 devs
  36. Colony Sim + Economy Poor odds $8.7k 172 devs
  37. Driving + Economy Poor odds $8.6k 61 devs
  38. Economy + Dating Sim Poor odds $8.4k 23 devs
  39. Survival + Economy Poor odds $8.1k 143 devs
  40. Economy + Life Sim Poor odds $7.7k 449 devs
  41. Economy + Choose Your Own Adventure Poor odds $7.7k 44 devs
  42. Economy + Inventory Management Poor odds $7.6k 265 devs
  43. CRPG + Economy Poor odds $6.8k 14 devs
  44. Economy + Exploration Poor odds $6.7k 215 devs
  45. PvP + Economy Poor odds $6.6k 70 devs
  46. Economy + Medical Sim Poor odds $5.9k 14 devs
  47. Economy + Transportation Poor odds $5.9k 60 devs
  48. Economy + Trading Poor odds $4.9k 288 devs
  49. Economy + Desktop Companion Poor odds $4.9k 32 devs
  50. Economy + Management Poor odds $4.8k 1,271 devs
Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Euro Truck Simulator 2 2012 · $454M EA SPORTS FC™ 26 2025 · $209M Cities: Skylines 2015 · $198M Crusader Kings III 2020 · $142M Europa Universalis IV 2013 · $141M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Euro Truck Simulator 2 older $19.99 756,984 97% 23M $454M (exactly $453,963,305) SCS Software
EA SPORTS FC™ 26 $69.99 99,773 50% 3.0M $209M (exactly $209,493,368) EA Canada, EA Romania
Cities: Skylines older $29.99 220,465 92% 6.6M $198M (exactly $198,352,360) Colossal Order
Crusader Kings III older $49.99 94,615 90% 2.8M $142M (exactly $141,894,116) Paradox Development Studio
Europa Universalis IV older $49.99 94,114 87% 2.8M $141M (exactly $141,142,766) Paradox Development Studio, Paradox Tin… (Paradox Development Studio, Paradox Tinto)
Sid Meier's Civilization® V older $29.99 128,186 95% 3.8M $115M (exactly $115,328,944) Firaxis Games, Aspyr (Mac), Aspyr (Linu… (Firaxis Games, Aspyr (Mac), Aspyr (Linux))
Planet Zoo older $44.99 81,191 90% 2.4M $110M (exactly $109,583,493) Frontier Developments
Frostpunk older $29.99 114,376 92% 3.4M $103M (exactly $102,904,087) 11 bit studios
American Truck Simulator older $19.99 165,692 97% 5.0M $99M (exactly $99,365,492) SCS Software
Cities: Skylines II older $49.99 64,211 57% 1.9M $96M (exactly $96,297,237) Iceflake Studios, Colossal Order
Sid Meier's Civilization VII $69.99 44,789 48% 1.3M $94M (exactly $94,043,463) Firaxis 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
Farming Simulator 25 $29.99 39,681 87% 1.2M $36M (exactly $35,700,996) GIANTS Software
TCG Card Shop Simulator $19.99 47,357 96% 1.4M $28M (exactly $28,399,993) OPNeon Games
Farthest Frontier $34.99 24,444 86% 733k $26M (exactly $25,658,867) Crate Entertainment
Foundation $34.99 23,037 86% 691k $24M (exactly $24,181,939) Polymorph Games
Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era · EA $39.99 19,251 86% 578k $23M (exactly $23,095,425) Unfrozen
Anno 117: Pax Romana $59.99 12,150 69% 365k $22M (exactly $21,866,355) Ubisoft Mainz

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