Games › Adventure › Adventure + World War II
Should I ship a WWII Adventure game?
Adventure + World War II
Of 35 developers who shipped a WWII 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.. 60 more are announced, ×3.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.0k, ×3.1 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $420; 1 in 20 cleared $7.2M, ×11522 the market median. Revenue is down 45% on the market; 60 games are announced against 17 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $419 (exactly $419) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.0k (exactly $1,977) |
| Top 25% | $14k (exactly $14,442) |
| Top 5% | $7.2M (exactly $7,236,052) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 35 |
| Released games | 240 |
| Announced | 60 |
| Effort | 6 / 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 down 45% on the market, supply 15% fewer 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.
- Adventure
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 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
- Adventure; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Action-Adventure, FPS
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $49.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person, Gore
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $49.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 85% positive over 19,917 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $420. 7 in 10 of the 24 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 60 games are announced against 17 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.5 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
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Sniper Elite 4 | older | $59.99 | 54,258 91% | 1.6M | $98M (exactly $97,648,123) | Rebellion |
| | 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 |
| | Men of War: Assault Squad 2 | older | $29.99 | 35,744 91% | 1.1M | $32M (exactly $32,158,877) | Digitalmindsoft |
| | Wolfenstein: The New Order | older | $19.99 | 46,443 91% | 1.4M | $28M (exactly $27,851,867) | MachineGames |
| | Call of Duty: World at War | older | $19.99 | 45,792 92% | 1.4M | $27M (exactly $27,461,462) | Treyarch |
| | Indiana Jones and the Great Circle | $69.99 | 13,058 89% | 392k | $27M (exactly $27,417,883) | MachineGames | |
| | Sniper Elite 3 | older | $29.99 | 21,407 82% | 642k | $19M (exactly $19,259,878) | Rebellion |
| | Zombie Army 4: Dead War | older | $49.99 | 10,028 86% | 301k | $15M (exactly $15,038,992) | Rebellion |
| | Sniper Elite: Resistance | $49.99 | 4,825 75% | 145k | $7.2M (exactly $7,236,052) | Rebellion | |
| | TR-49 | $6.99 | 1,197 94% | 36k | $251k (exactly $251,011) | inkle Ltd | |
| | Zombie Army VR | $29.99 | 182 44% | 5.5k | $164k (exactly $163,745) | Rebellion, Xtended Realities | |
| | Ship Explorer | $19.99 | 134 84% | 4.0k | $80k (exactly $80,360) | Turbine Room Studio | |
| | FEAR OF FAITH | · EA | $9.99 | 117 78% | 3.5k | $35k (exactly $35,065) | UNBREAKABLE ARK |
| | Dragon Front: Adventures | $19.99 | 58 89% | 1.7k | $35k (exactly $34,783) | High Voltage Software, Inc. | |
| | Fuck's Quest II | $4.99 | 133 100% | 4.0k | $20k (exactly $19,910) | Ancient Computer Tech | |
| | My Waifu Is A Tank Girl! 💕 | $2.99 | 161 80% | 4.8k | $14k (exactly $14,442) | Neko Cloud | |
| | Grizzly Man | $8.99 | 52 90% | 1.6k | $14k (exactly $14,024) | LCB Game Studio |
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.