Do I ship it?

Games › Combat › Combat + Aliens

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Alien Combat game?

Combat + Aliens

Of 271 developers who shipped an Alien Combat 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.. 402 more are announced, ×2.8 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 $420 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 5 / 10 build. 143 developers shipped in the last year and 402 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.4 times the market baseline, revenue down 30% on the market, 402 announced, ×2.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Combat + Aliens
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 271
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $479 → $449 → $807 → $599 → $300 → $359 → $239 (still earning) → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Combat + Aliens: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 271
Bottom 30% $30 (exactly $30)
Median $269 (exactly $269)
Top 25% $2.2k (exactly $2,158)
Top 5% $83k (exactly $83,217)
Developers, 2 yr 271
Released games 769
Announced 402
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $5.99

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 30% on the market, supply 10% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 16%, 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.

Combat
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Aliens
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
Combat; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Shooter, Arcade
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 82% positive over 91,623 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 $2.1k, 1 in 20 over $83k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. 9 in 10 of the 145 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 402 games are announced against 143 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Combat with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Real-Time with PauseStrong odds14 devs · median $15k · 12 announced
  2. + 4XFair32 devs · median $3.8k · 48 announced
  3. + TypingFair20 devs · median $2.2k · 26 announced
  4. + VampiresFair54 devs · median $1.9k · 64 announced
  5. + SnowFair21 devs · median $1.2k · 24 announced
  6. + Walking SimulatorFair51 devs · median $599 · 61 announced
  7. + Match 3Long shot13 devs · median $359 · 16 announced
  8. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds32 devs · median $55k · 85 announced
  9. + Political SimPoor odds14 devs · median $49k · 22 announced
  10. + Extraction ShooterPoor odds21 devs · median $31k · 47 announced
  11. + Dating SimPoor odds23 devs · median $19k · 45 announced
  12. + LGBTQ+Poor odds52 devs · median $16k · 90 announced

All 248 pairs on the Combat page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Dead Space 2023 · $113M STAR WARS™ Battlefront™ II 2020 · $105M Starship Troopers: Extermination 2024 · $27M Aliens: Dark Descent 2023 · $18M Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor 2025 · $18M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Dead Space older $59.99 62,997 90% 1.9M $113M (exactly $113,375,701) Motive
STAR WARS™ Battlefront™ II older $39.99 87,494 88% 2.6M $105M (exactly $104,966,552) DICE
Starship Troopers: Extermination $29.99 29,724 80% 892k $27M (exactly $26,742,683) Offworld
Aliens: Dark Descent older $39.99 15,310 87% 459k $18M (exactly $18,367,407) Tindalos Interactive
Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor $12.99 46,354 86% 1.4M $18M (exactly $18,064,154) Funday Games
Dead Space™ 2 older $19.99 25,897 94% 777k $16M (exactly $15,530,431) Visceral Games
Crysis 2 Remastered older $29.99 9,034 89% 271k $8.1M (exactly $8,127,890) Crytek, Saber Interactive
Crysis 3 Remastered older $29.99 7,731 88% 232k $7.0M (exactly $6,955,581) Crytek, Saber Interactive
Star Trek: Voyager - Across the Unknown $34.99 4,162 79% 125k $4.4M (exactly $4,368,851) Gamexcite
Sanctum 2 older $14.99 7,456 92% 224k $3.4M (exactly $3,352,963) Coffee Stain Studios
High On Life 2 $39.99 2,200 71% 66k $2.6M (exactly $2,639,340) Squanch Games, Inc.
Alien: Rogue Incursion VR $39.99 1,340 70% 40k $1.6M (exactly $1,607,598) Survios
Level Zero: Extraction $19.99 2,446 50% 73k $1.5M (exactly $1,466,866) Doghowl Games
The Thing: Remastered $29.99 1,203 89% 36k $1.1M (exactly $1,082,339) Nightdive Studios, Computer Artworks
Alien: Rogue Incursion Evolved Edition $29.99 899 72% 27k $809k (exactly $808,830) Survios
Wall World 2 $11.99 1,749 73% 52k $629k (exactly $629,115) Alawar
420BLAZEIT 2: GAME OF THE YEAR -=Dank Dreams and Goated Memes=- [#wow/11 Like and Subscribe] Poggerz Edition $10.99 1,546 98% 46k $510k (exactly $509,716) Normal Wholesome Games

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