Games › Action › Action + World War II
Should I ship a WWII Action game?
Action + World War II
Of 72 developers who shipped a WWII Action 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.. 148 more are announced, ×3.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.7k, ×4.3 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $540; 1 in 20 cleared $1.7M, ×2761 the market median. Revenue is down 20% on the market; 148 games are announced against 44 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $539 (exactly $539) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.7k (exactly $2,699) |
| Top 25% | $43k (exactly $42,857) |
| Top 5% | $1.7M (exactly $1,733,722) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 72 |
| Released games | 485 |
| Announced | 148 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $8.99 |
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 20% on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Action
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- World War II
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Action; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Shooter, Tactical
- Price point
- $8.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Realistic, 3D, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 39,189 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $540. 6 in 10 of the 40 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 148 games are announced against 44 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.4 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Action with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Real-Time with PauseFair
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + PinballFair
- + Escape RoomFair
- + Football (American)Fair
- + BaseballFair
- + BilliardsFair
- + IdlerFair
- + TennisFair
- + Time AttackFair
- + TabletopFair
- + WuxiaPoor odds
Comparable games
Hearts of Iron IV 2016 · $412M 
Battlefield™ V 2020 · $355M 
Hell Let Loose 2021 · $149M 
Sniper Elite 4 2017 · $98M 
Call of Duty®: WWII 2017 · $60M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Hearts of Iron IV | older | $49.99 | 274,901 90% | 8.2M | $412M (exactly $412,269,030) | Paradox Development Studio |
| | Battlefield™ V | older | $49.99 | 236,709 70% | 7.1M | $355M (exactly $354,992,487) | DICE |
| | Hell Let Loose | older | $49.99 | 99,628 83% | 3.0M | $149M (exactly $149,412,112) | Expression Games |
| | Sniper Elite 4 | older | $59.99 | 54,258 91% | 1.6M | $98M (exactly $97,648,123) | Rebellion |
| | Call of Duty®: WWII | older | $59.99 | 33,576 71% | 1.0M | $60M (exactly $60,426,727) | Sledgehammer Games, Raven Software |
 | Company of Heroes 3 | older | $59.99 | 24,516 59% | 735k | $44M (exactly $44,121,445) | Relic Entertainment |
 | Foxhole | older | $29.99 | 47,330 79% | 1.4M | $43M (exactly $42,582,801) | Siege Camp |
 | Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus | older | $39.99 | 35,277 81% | 1.1M | $42M (exactly $42,321,817) | MachineGames |
 | Company of Heroes 2 | older | $19.99 | 68,909 80% | 2.1M | $41M (exactly $41,324,727) | Relic Entertainment, Feral Interactive… (Relic Entertainment, Feral Interactive (Mac), Feral Interactive (Linux)) |
 | Sniper Elite 5 | older | $49.99 | 24,818 83% | 745k | $37M (exactly $37,219,555) | Rebellion |
 | Indiana Jones and the Great Circle | $69.99 | 13,058 89% | 392k | $27M (exactly $27,417,883) | MachineGames | |
 | IRON NEST: Heavy Turret Simulator | $19.99 | 13,278 97% | 398k | $8.0M (exactly $7,962,817) | Nick Nieuwoudt, Dominik Latos | |
 | Sniper Elite: Resistance | $49.99 | 4,825 75% | 145k | $7.2M (exactly $7,236,052) | Rebellion | |
 | Call to Arms: Panzer Elite | · EA | $29.99 | 1,927 69% | 58k | $1.7M (exactly $1,733,722) | Digitalmindsoft |
 | Aces of Thunder | $29.99 | 1,159 57% | 35k | $1.0M (exactly $1,042,752) | Gaijin Entertainment | |
 | Sudden Strike 5 | $49.99 | 641 75% | 19k | $961k (exactly $961,308) | Kite Games | |
 | Company of Heroes 3: Final Stand | $29.99 | 1,015 49% | 30k | $913k (exactly $913,196) | Relic Entertainment | |
 | Heroes of Valor | · EA | $14.99 | 1,324 90% | 40k | $595k (exactly $595,403) | Fancy Cat Interactive |
 | Tank Squad | $19.99 | 847 70% | 25k | $508k (exactly $507,946) | DeGenerals S.A. | |
 | Warfare Legacy Collection | $9.99 | 1,115 92% | 33k | $334k (exactly $334,166) | Con Artist Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.