Games › Adventure › Adventure + Cold War
Should I ship a Cold-War Adventure game?
Adventure + Cold War
Of 35 developers who shipped a Cold-War Adventure 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.. 70 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $3.8k, ×6.0 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $840; 1 in 20 cleared $1.7M, ×2765 the market median. Revenue is up 135% on the market; 70 games are announced against 25 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $836 (exactly $836) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.8k (exactly $3,774) |
| Top 25% | $17k (exactly $17,391) |
| Top 5% | $1.7M (exactly $1,736,292) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 35 |
| Released games | 131 |
| Announced | 70 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 135% on the market, supply 125% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 15%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Adventure; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Exploration, Tactical
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Story Rich, Third Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 78% positive over 22,729 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $840. 7 in 10 of the 11 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 70 games are announced against 25 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Adventure with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + SamuraiFair
- + FMVFair
- + PinballFair
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + Escape RoomFair
- + Mini GolfFair
- + SportsFair
- + GolfFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + Time AttackFair
- + Traditional RoguelikeFair
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
Comparable games
Call of Duty®: Black Ops 2010 · $27M 
METAL GEAR SOLID Δ: SNAKE EATER 2025 · $20M 
Wargame: Red Dragon 2014 · $14M 
METAL GEAR SOLID V: GROUND ZEROES 2014 · $8.1M 
METAL GEAR SOLID 3: Snake Eater - Master Collection Version 2023 · $3.2M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Call of Duty®: Black Ops | older | $39.99 | 22,244 91% | 667k | $27M (exactly $26,686,127) | Treyarch |
| | METAL GEAR SOLID Δ: SNAKE EATER | $49.99 | 13,554 82% | 407k | $20M (exactly $20,326,934) | KONAMI | |
| | Wargame: Red Dragon | older | $29.99 | 15,758 88% | 473k | $14M (exactly $14,177,473) | Eugen Systems |
| | METAL GEAR SOLID V: GROUND ZEROES | older | $19.99 | 13,535 84% | 406k | $8.1M (exactly $8,116,939) | KONAMI |
| | METAL GEAR SOLID 3: Snake Eater - Master Collection Version | older | $19.99 | 5,403 89% | 162k | $3.2M (exactly $3,240,179) | KONAMI |
 | The Bureau: XCOM Declassified | older | $19.99 | 4,857 67% | 146k | $2.9M (exactly $2,912,743) | 2K Marin |
 | Jazzpunk: Director's Cut | older | $14.99 | 6,407 94% | 192k | $2.9M (exactly $2,881,228) | Necrophone Games |
 | Metro Awakening | $29.99 | 3,013 73% | 90k | $2.7M (exactly $2,710,796) | Vertigo Games | |
 | Wild Assault | $14.99 | 3,861 68% | 116k | $1.7M (exactly $1,736,292) | Combat Cat Studio | |
 | I Expect You To Die | older | $24.99 | 2,169 95% | 65k | $1.6M (exactly $1,626,099) | Schell Games |
 | METAL GEAR SOLID: Peace Walker - Master Collection Version | $19.99 | 925 79% | 28k | $555k (exactly $554,722) | KONAMI | |
 | Scavland | · EA | $19.99 | 800 81% | 24k | $480k (exactly $479,760) | NoShadow |
 | NODE | $24.99 | 146 91% | 4.4k | $109k (exactly $109,456) | Lapsus Games | |
 | Heroines Through My Lens | $19.99 | 168 87% | 5.0k | $101k (exactly $100,750) | Storytaco | |
 | METAL GEAR SOLID: MASTER COLLECTION Vol.2 | $49.99 | 49 65% | 1.5k | $73k (exactly $73,485) | KONAMI | |
 | 60 Minutes to Extinction: Escape Room | $7.99 | 153 82% | 4.6k | $37k (exactly $36,674) | mc2games | |
 | Kriophobia | $14.99 | 60 90% | 1.8k | $27k (exactly $26,982) | Fira Soft |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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