Should I ship a Mars game?
Mars
Of 79 developers who shipped a Mars 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.. 119 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 $630, level with the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $1.6M, ×2693 the market median. Revenue is up 800% on the market; 119 games are announced against 37 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $150 (exactly $150) |
|---|---|
| Median | $628 (exactly $628) |
| Top 25% | $6.3k (exactly $6,296) |
| Top 5% | $1.7M (exactly $1,691,422) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 79 |
| Released games | 295 |
| Announced | 119 |
| 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 800% on the market, supply 10% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 11%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Mars
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 80% positive over 15,198 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 45 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 119 games are announced against 37 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.2 per shipper.
All pairs with Mars
No pair with Mars has 25 games yet.
Comparable games
Per Aspera 2020 · $3.7M 
Terraforming Mars 2018 · $3.1M 
DOOM 3 2012 · $2.7M 
Surviving Mars: Relaunched 2025 · $2.6M 
Occupy Mars: The Game 2026 · $2.4M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Per Aspera | older | $29.99 | 4,105 76% | 123k | $3.7M (exactly $3,693,268) | Tlön Industries |
| | Terraforming Mars | older | $19.99 | 5,194 71% | 156k | $3.1M (exactly $3,114,842) | Artefacts Studio |
| | DOOM 3 | older | $9.99 | 9,133 85% | 274k | $2.7M (exactly $2,737,160) | id Software |
| | Surviving Mars: Relaunched | $39.99 | 2,202 55% | 66k | $2.6M (exactly $2,641,739) | Haemimont Games | |
| | Occupy Mars: The Game | $29.99 | 2,714 68% | 81k | $2.4M (exactly $2,441,786) | ▲ Pyramid Games | |
 | Mars First Logistics | $19.99 | 3,497 94% | 105k | $2.1M (exactly $2,097,151) | Shape Shop | |
 | Deliver Us Mars | older | $29.99 | 2,271 74% | 68k | $2.0M (exactly $2,043,219) | KeokeN Interactive |
 | Red Faction Guerrilla Re-Mars-tered | older | $19.99 | 3,385 79% | 102k | $2.0M (exactly $2,029,984) | Volition, KAIKO |
 | Terraformers | older | $19.99 | 3,031 88% | 91k | $1.8M (exactly $1,817,691) | Asteroid Lab |
 | Fort Solis | older | $24.99 | 2,300 69% | 69k | $1.7M (exactly $1,724,310) | Fallen Leaf, Black Drakkar Games |
 | Plan B: Terraform | $15.99 | 3,526 91% | 106k | $1.7M (exactly $1,691,422) | Gaddy Games | |
 | Solargene | $34.99 | 777 77% | 23k | $816k (exactly $815,617) | Alexander Semenov | |
 | Blossom: The Seed of Life | $16.99 | 1,011 88% | 30k | $515k (exactly $515,307) | Pebbledust Games | |
 | Calyx | · EA | $24.99 | 471 88% | 14k | $353k (exactly $353,109) | Studio 568 |
 | Stellar Settlers: Space Base Builder | $11.99 | 744 69% | 22k | $268k (exactly $267,617) | Tinymice Entertainment | |
 | Surviving Mars: Pioneer | $24.99 | 78 83% | 2.3k | $58k (exactly $58,477) | Bolverk Games | |
 | 1 Trait Escape | $9.99 | 178 97% | 5.3k | $53k (exactly $53,347) | Andrew Katz, Jeremy Collette |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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