Do I ship it?

Games4X4X + Roguelite

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Roguelite 4X?

4X + Roguelite

Only 8 developers shipped a Roguelite 4X in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, After Inc: Revival, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 27 more are announced, ×14 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 7 / 10 build.

Only 2 developers shipped this in the last year, under the 5 a verdict needs; over 2 years the middle one made $17k against a market of $1.5k. 27 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 11.0 times the market baseline, revenue too few recent games to read momentum, 27 announced, ×14 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
4X + Roguelite
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 8

not enough cohorts to draw

Outcomes for 4X + Roguelite: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 8
Bottom 30% $6.4k (exactly $6,437)
Median $17k (exactly $16,546)
Top 25% $156k (exactly $155,922)
Top 5% $799k (exactly $798,756)
Developers, 2 yr 8
Released games 27
Announced 27
Effort 7 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $11.99

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 too few recent games to read momentum, supply 65% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 15%, 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 low: the lowest rating among its tags.

4X
effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
Roguelite
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
Systems
4X, Roguelite
Price point
$11.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

Fewer than 10 games in the last 2 years; sentiment and price figures use the all window.

The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $11.99.

The top 10 games average 91% positive over 44,864 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $6.5k, median $17k, 1 in 4 over $150k, 1 in 20 over $790k.

3 in 10 developers made under $6.5k. 8 in 10 of the 6 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 27 games are announced against 2 developers who shipped in the last year, ×14 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

4X with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + CombatFair32 devs · median $3.8k · 48 announced
  2. + Colony SimPoor odds23 devs · median $314k · 77 announced
  3. + Turn-BasedPoor odds16 devs · median $193k · 26 announced
  4. + SandboxPoor odds36 devs · median $193k · 76 announced
  5. + DiplomacyPoor odds29 devs · median $86k · 79 announced
  6. + SurvivalPoor odds21 devs · median $72k · 40 announced
  7. + HistoricalPoor odds49 devs · median $61k · 75 announced
  8. + Alternate HistoryPoor odds21 devs · median $61k · 36 announced
  9. + RPGPoor odds26 devs · median $54k · 56 announced
  10. + BuildingPoor odds52 devs · median $34k · 112 announced
  11. + Real-Time with PausePoor odds8 devs · median $34k · 21 announced
  12. + Strategy RPGPoor odds15 devs · median $31k · 33 announced

All 63 pairs on the 4X page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Against the Storm older $29.99 33,271 94% 998k $30M (exactly $29,933,919) Eremite Games
Conquest of Elysium 5 older $29.99 1,872 90% 56k $1.7M (exactly $1,684,238) Illwinter Game Design
Thea 2: The Shattering older $24.99 1,892 79% 57k $1.4M (exactly $1,418,432) MuHa Games, Eerie Forest Studio
After Inc: Revival $17.99 1,480 77% 44k $799k (exactly $798,756) Ndemic Creations
Legend Creatures(传奇生物) older $4.99 3,780 89% 113k $566k (exactly $565,866) HideChara
Space Tyrant older $19.99 549 83% 16k $329k (exactly $329,235) Blue Wizard Digital
WitchHand older $11.99 616 90% 18k $222k (exactly $221,575) Jon Nielsen
Legendary Creatures 2 older $5.99 885 70% 27k $159k (exactly $159,034) HideChara
Rogue Hex $19.99 260 89% 7.8k $156k (exactly $155,922) Topstitch Games
Z Dawn older $9.99 259 72% 7.8k $78k (exactly $77,622) GoldenGod Games
Astro Protocol $11.99 66 93% 2.0k $24k (exactly $23,740) Null Vector Studios
Hyper Empire $11.99 46 78% 1.4k $17k (exactly $16,546) Fair Weather Studios
Epoch of Guardians $11.99 32 81% 960 $12k (exactly $11,510) 伊洛维游戏
⁤Square Wars · EA $4.99 43 79% 1.3k $6.4k (exactly $6,437) Gökhan Birçek
Commander Bug Wars $9.99 18 83% 540 $5.4k (exactly $5,395) GoldenGod Games
​Shattered Lands (破碎之地) $6.99 4 25% 120 $839 (exactly $839) VoidStudio

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