Do I ship it?

Games › Wargame › Wargame + Action Roguelike

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Action Roguelike Wargame?

Wargame + Action Roguelike

Of 31 developers who shipped an Action Roguelike Wargame 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.. 38 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $270 in the last 2 years and $270 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 5 / 10 build. 14 developers shipped in the last year and 38 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.4 times the market baseline, revenue up 25% on the market, 38 announced, ×2.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Wargame + Action Roguelike
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 31
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $683 → $958 → $598 → $538 → $0 → $299 (still earning) → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Wargame + Action Roguelike: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 31
Bottom 30% $0 (exactly $0)
Median $267 (exactly $267)
Top 25% $1.3k (exactly $1,256)
Top 5% $187k (exactly $186,940)
Developers, 2 yr 31
Released games 63
Announced 38
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $4.99

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 25% on the market, supply 20% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 6%, 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.

Wargame
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Action Roguelike
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 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
Wargame, Action Roguelike; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Roguelike, Roguelite
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $10.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Top-Down, 3D, Pixel Graphics
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $10.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 79% positive over 2,047 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $50, median $270, 1 in 4 over $1.2k, 1 in 20 over $180k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. 9 in 10 of the 20 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 38 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Inventory ManagementFair21 devs · median $4.6k · 20 announced
  2. + Local MultiplayerFair28 devs · median $3.0k · 28 announced
  3. + NavalFair37 devs · median $2.4k · 37 announced
  4. + TabletopFair50 devs · median $1.1k · 57 announced
  5. + LogicFair20 devs · median $599 · 26 announced
  6. + Real-Time with PausePoor odds11 devs · median $37k · 24 announced
  7. + Real-TimePoor odds13 devs · median $37k · 17 announced
  8. + Co-opPoor odds43 devs · median $21k · 84 announced
  9. + StealthPoor odds10 devs · median $21k · 39 announced
  10. + DiplomacyPoor odds34 devs · median $17k · 59 announced
  11. + Colony SimPoor odds24 devs · median $16k · 55 announced
  12. + SandboxPoor odds82 devs · median $14k · 142 announced

All 147 pairs on the Wargame page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Bad North: Jotunn Edition 2018 · $5.6M Medal of Honor™: Above and Beyond 2020 · $3.0M Multi Turret Academy 2024 · EA · $480k 👑 Idle Calibur 👑（选王之剑） 2022 · $298k Warlords Battleground: Extraction 2026 · $189k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Bad North: Jotunn Edition older $14.99 12,344 93% 370k $5.6M (exactly $5,551,097) Plausible Concept, Oskar Stålberg
Medal of Honor™: Above and Beyond older $39.99 2,466 65% 74k $3.0M (exactly $2,958,460) Respawn Entertainment
Multi Turret Academy · EA older $8.99 1,778 95% 53k $480k (exactly $479,527) Yulia Games
👑 Idle Calibur 👑（选王之剑） older $7.99 1,242 85% 37k $298k (exactly $297,707) 绝汪
Warlords Battleground: Extraction $11.99 525 84% 16k $189k (exactly $188,842) 绝汪
Metal Thunder · EA $10.99 567 76% 17k $187k (exactly $186,940) Dumbbell Games
Warlords Under Siege $9.99 436 77% 13k $131k (exactly $130,669) RedKar Devs
Mage and Monsters II $8.99 372 82% 11k $100k (exactly $100,328) Lasse Zacho Malver
Linguist FPS - The Language Learning FPS older $14.99 192 71% 5.8k $86k (exactly $86,342) Rocket Boy Games
BeachHead older $14.99 95 66% 2.9k $43k (exactly $42,722) Digital Fusion Inc.
Warlords Battle Simulator $9.99 55 67% 1.7k $16k (exactly $16,484) RedKar Devs
Pass Tiger Cage · EA $6.99 34 61% 1.0k $7.1k (exactly $7,130) 中军MT
BeachHead Rogue $4.99 19 73% 570 $2.8k (exactly $2,844) Digital Fusion Inc.
Wartheon $3.99 17 94% 510 $2.0k (exactly $2,035) Asilpena Games
Knighventure $2.99 14 78% 420 $1.3k (exactly $1,256) Gamesforgames
HeroIsVeryArrogant $4.99 8 100% 240 $1.2k (exactly $1,198) Wondarabyte

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