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. Economy + God Game Fair $2.8k 47 devs
  2. God Game + Puzzle Fair $1.2k 27 devs
  3. God Game + Inventory Management Fair $1.1k 16 devs
  4. Destruction + God Game Fair $899 19 devs
  5. God Game + Idler Fair $839 91 devs
  6. God Game + Incremental Fair $807 79 devs
  7. God Game + Arcade Long shot $390 17 devs
  8. God Game + Farming Sim Long shot $359 22 devs
  9. Agriculture + God Game Long shot $180 9 devs
  10. Base Building + God Game Poor odds $28k 37 devs
  11. God Game + Tower Defense Poor odds $22k 16 devs
  12. City Builder + God Game Poor odds $20k 47 devs
  13. RTS + God Game Poor odds $10k 22 devs
  14. Real Time Tactics + God Game Poor odds $7.8k 19 devs
  15. Colony Sim + God Game Poor odds $6.1k 43 devs
  16. Building + God Game Poor odds $5.8k 74 devs
  17. God Game + Management Poor odds $5.0k 95 devs
  18. God Game + Procedural Generation Poor odds $4.7k 40 devs
  19. God Game + Resource Management Poor odds $4.3k 75 devs
  20. God Game + Roguelike Poor odds $3.1k 27 devs
  21. Grand Strategy + God Game Poor odds $2.8k 11 devs
  22. Survival + God Game Poor odds $2.2k 25 devs
  23. Combat + God Game Poor odds $2.2k 17 devs
  24. God Game + Strategy Poor odds $2.1k 138 devs
  25. God Game + Exploration Poor odds $2.0k 41 devs
  26. Automation + God Game Poor odds $2.0k 38 devs
  27. Crafting + God Game Poor odds $1.8k 28 devs
  28. God Game + Roguelite Poor odds $1.8k 27 devs
  29. God Game + Political Sim Poor odds $1.6k 19 devs
  30. God Game + Level Editor Poor odds $1.6k 11 devs
  31. God Game + Turn-Based Strategy Poor odds $1.5k 16 devs
  32. God Game + Time Management Poor odds $1.5k 31 devs
  33. Sandbox + God Game Poor odds $1.4k 103 devs
  34. God Game + Interactive Fiction Poor odds $1.4k 10 devs
  35. God Game + Choices Matter Poor odds $1.3k 31 devs
  36. God Game + Hidden Object Poor odds $959 11 devs
  37. PvE + God Game Poor odds $899 18 devs
  38. God Game + Simulation Poor odds $898 226 devs
  39. God Game + Wargame Poor odds $898 19 devs
  40. Space Sim + God Game Poor odds $898 10 devs
  41. Character Customization + God Game Poor odds $839 18 devs
  42. Tactical + God Game Poor odds $839 15 devs
  43. God Game + Auto Battler Poor odds $839 12 devs
  44. God Game + Physics Poor odds $809 34 devs
  45. God Game + Turn-Based Tactics Poor odds $809 18 devs
  46. God Game + Logic Poor odds $809 14 devs
  47. Open World + God Game Poor odds $718 33 devs
  48. Action + God Game Poor odds $628 39 devs
  49. God Game + Tabletop Poor odds $600 12 devs
  50. God Game + Life Sim Poor odds $599 43 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.