Games › Combat Racing › Combat Racing + Adventure
Should I ship an Adventure Combat Racing game?
Combat Racing + Adventure
Of 59 developers who shipped an Adventure Combat Racing 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.. 84 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $630, level with the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $59; 1 in 20 cleared $110k, ×178 the market median. Revenue is up 10% on the market; 84 games are announced against 31 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $59 (exactly $59) |
|---|---|
| Median | $629 (exactly $629) |
| Top 25% | $4.5k (exactly $4,491) |
| Top 5% | $112k (exactly $111,572) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 59 |
| Released games | 191 |
| Announced | 84 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $5.00 |
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 10% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 12%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Combat Racing
- effort 6 / 10 · low · vehicle physics plus weapons and AI drivers
- Adventure
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Combat Racing, Adventure; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Combat, Racing
- Price point
- $5.00 typical · top 25% priced $39.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $39.99 or above; the middle game at $5.00.
The top 10 games average 68% positive over 4,925 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $59. 9 in 10 of the 41 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 84 games are announced against 31 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Combat Racing with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + CollectathonFair
- + SandboxFair
- + PlatformerFair
- + RhythmFair
- + ParkourFair
- + RPGFair
- + 2D PlatformerLong shot
- + Beat 'em upLong shot
- + SurvivalPoor odds
- + Post-apocalypticPoor odds
- + DystopianPoor odds
- + Split ScreenPoor odds
Comparable games
Need for Speed™ Heat 2020 · $271M 
Need for Speed™ Unbound 2022 · $105M 
Need for Speed™ 2020 · $23M 
Need for Speed™ Most Wanted 2020 · $15M 
Need for Speed™ Rivals 2020 · $5.6M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Need for Speed™ Heat | older | $69.99 | 128,933 84% | 3.9M | $271M (exactly $270,720,620) | Ghost Games |
| | Need for Speed™ Unbound | older | $69.99 | 49,862 61% | 1.5M | $105M (exactly $104,695,241) | Criterion Games |
| | Need for Speed™ | older | $29.99 | 25,443 69% | 763k | $23M (exactly $22,891,067) | Ghost Games |
| | Need for Speed™ Most Wanted | older | $19.99 | 25,197 77% | 756k | $15M (exactly $15,110,641) | Criterion Games |
| | Need for Speed™ Rivals | older | $19.99 | 9,265 76% | 278k | $5.6M (exactly $5,556,220) | Criterion Games |
 | Burnout™ Paradise Remastered | older | $19.99 | 7,348 64% | 220k | $4.4M (exactly $4,406,596) | Stellar Entertainment, Criterion Games |
 | Samson | $24.99 | 2,911 54% | 87k | $2.2M (exactly $2,182,377) | Liquid Swords | |
 | The Karters 2: Turbo Charged | · EA | $29.99 | 1,043 91% | 31k | $938k (exactly $938,387) | Pixel Edge Games |
 | Rustler (Grand Theft Horse) | older | $24.99 | 1,227 78% | 37k | $920k (exactly $919,882) | Jutsu Games |
 | Arizona Derby | older | $18.99 | 601 77% | 18k | $342k (exactly $342,390) | Falcon Interactive |
 | TRANSFORMERS: Galactic Trials | $39.99 | 93 78% | 2.8k | $112k (exactly $111,572) | 3DClouds | |
 | Master of 4 Swords | $39.99 | 93 93% | 2.8k | $112k (exactly $111,572) | Don BASS | |
 | Iron Carnage | $39.99 | 91 91% | 2.7k | $109k (exactly $109,173) | Andrew Monteiro B | |
 | TurboJoy | $39.99 | 90 93% | 2.7k | $108k (exactly $107,973) | TurboJo | |
 | Ammo Bounce | $39.99 | 87 88% | 2.6k | $104k (exactly $104,374) | TurboJo | |
 | Maiden Cops | $9.99 | 282 87% | 8.5k | $85k (exactly $84,515) | Pippin Games | |
 | Dust Raiders | $15.99 | 160 64% | 4.8k | $77k (exactly $76,752) | Vixa Games | |
 | Pest Apocalypse | $9.99 | 75 94% | 2.3k | $22k (exactly $22,478) | Kikimora 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.