Do I ship it?

Games › Mechanics › God Game

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a God Game?

God Game

Of 298 developers who shipped a God 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.. 422 more are announced, ×2.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $840, ×1.3 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $290k, ×468 the market median. Revenue is up 20% on the market; 422 games are announced against 176 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.3 times the market baseline, revenue up 20% on the market, 422 announced, ×2.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
God Game
Fig. 1 · this niche among 355
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 298
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.2k → $1.3k → $807 → $1.2k → $809 → $4.8k → $839 (still earning) → $360 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for God Game: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 298
Bottom 30% $180 (exactly $180)
Median $839 (exactly $839)
Top 25% $12k (exactly $12,238)
Top 5% $294k (exactly $293,597)
Developers, 2 yr 298
Released games 945
Announced 422
Effort 5 / 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 20% on the market, supply 45% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 10%, 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.

God Game
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
God Game
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 77% positive over 24,538 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $180, median $840, 1 in 4 over $12k, 1 in 20 over $290k.

3 in 10 developers made under $180. 8 in 10 of the 154 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 422 games are announced against 176 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 per shipper.

Plate 6 · every pair with this tag

All pairs with God Game

74 pairs with a mechanicwith: mechanics · settings · any
  1. God Game + Multiple Endings Poor odds $599 20 devs
  2. RPG + God Game Poor odds $539 42 devs
  3. God Game + Tactical RPG Poor odds $539 9 devs
  4. God Game + Choose Your Own Adventure Poor odds $538 16 devs
  5. God Game + Adventure Poor odds $537 43 devs
  6. God Game + Strategy RPG Poor odds $479 12 devs
  7. Creature Collector + God Game Poor odds $449 29 devs
  8. Immersive Sim + God Game Poor odds $359 41 devs
  9. Action-Adventure + God Game Poor odds $359 17 devs
  10. God Game + Platformer Poor odds $150 8 devs
  11. Action RTS + God Game Dead $7.8k 5 devs
  12. God Game + Dating Sim Dead $4.2k 3 devs
  13. God Game + Visual Novel Dead $1.4k 7 devs
  14. PvP + God Game Dead $1.2k 6 devs
  15. FPS + God Game Dead $449 5 devs
  16. God Game + Point & Click Dead $359 21 devs
  17. God Game + Action Roguelike Dead $359 10 devs
  18. God Game + Puzzle Platformer Dead $359 6 devs
  19. 3D Platformer + God Game Dead $270 13 devs
  20. Shooter + God Game Dead $270 6 devs
  21. God Game + 2D Platformer Dead $150 24 devs
  22. Action RPG + God Game Dead $120 9 devs
  23. Sports + God Game Dead $0 11 devs
  24. Racing + God Game Dead $0 3 devs
Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Planet Coaster 2016 · $80M SPORE™ 2008 · $40M WorldBox - God Simulator 2021 · EA · $31M Universe Sandbox 2015 · EA · $25M Planet Coaster 2 2024 · $20M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Planet Coaster older $44.99 59,443 91% 1.8M $80M (exactly $80,230,217) Frontier Developments, Aspyr (Mac)
SPORE™ older $19.99 66,871 92% 2.0M $40M (exactly $40,102,539) Maxis™
WorldBox - God Simulator · EA older $19.99 51,071 95% 1.5M $31M (exactly $30,627,279) Maxim Karpenko
Universe Sandbox · EA older $29.99 27,843 96% 835k $25M (exactly $25,050,347) Giant Army
Planet Coaster 2 $49.99 13,047 74% 391k $20M (exactly $19,566,586) Frontier Developments
Dungeons 3 older $29.99 12,648 93% 379k $11M (exactly $11,379,406) Realmforge Studios
Craft The World older $18.99 15,074 88% 452k $8.6M (exactly $8,587,658) Dekovir Entertainment, Sibear Games
The Universim older $29.99 8,465 79% 254k $7.6M (exactly $7,615,960) Crytivo
Stonehearth older $19.99 10,652 76% 320k $6.4M (exactly $6,388,004) Radiant Entertainment
War for the Overworld older $29.99 6,495 85% 195k $5.8M (exactly $5,843,552) Brightrock Games
JIANGHU CHRONICLES $17.99 2,046 70% 61k $1.1M (exactly $1,104,226) 一品阁
Sintopia $34.99 951 80% 29k $998k (exactly $998,265) Piraknights Games
I Am Jesus Christ $19.99 1,486 87% 45k $891k (exactly $891,154) Space Boat Studios
Microcivilization $17.99 1,437 78% 43k $776k (exactly $775,549) Ondrej Homola
Stonemachia $19.99 1,244 95% 37k $746k (exactly $746,027) Crossfall Games
Deck of Haunts $19.99 1,206 84% 36k $723k (exactly $723,238) Mantis
Gold Gold Adventure Gold $24.99 907 70% 27k $680k (exactly $679,978) Can Can Can a Man
Dungeon Tycoon $14.99 1,472 78% 44k $662k (exactly $661,958) Lunheim Studios
Roman Triumph: Survival City Builder $24.99 742 83% 22k $556k (exactly $556,277) Coreffect Interactive

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