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Should I ship an Alien Destruction game?
Destruction + Aliens
Of 29 developers who shipped an Alien Destruction 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.. 63 more are announced, ×4.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $480, ×0.8 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $50; 1 in 20 cleared $23k, ×38 the market median. Revenue is down 35% on the market; 63 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $0 (exactly $0) |
|---|---|
| Median | $479 (exactly $479) |
| Top 25% | $2.7k (exactly $2,697) |
| Top 5% | $24k (exactly $23,976) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 29 |
| Released games | 108 |
| Announced | 63 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 35% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 17%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Destruction
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Aliens
- 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
- Destruction; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Arcade, Shooter
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $16.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Top-Down, Pixel Graphics
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $16.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 90% positive over 1,229 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $50. 9 in 10 of the 16 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 63 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Destruction with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Space SimFair
- + ModernFair
- + God GameFair
- + Hidden ObjectFair
- + Hack and SlashPoor odds
- + HistoricalPoor odds
- + CapitalismPoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
- + Co-opPoor odds
- + Automobile SimPoor odds
- + ManagementPoor odds
- + AutomationPoor odds
Comparable games
Destroy All Humans! 2020 · $8.1M 
EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 4.1 The Shadow of New Despair 2016 · $4.7M 
Destroy All Humans! 2 - Reprobed 2022 · $2.7M 
Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor - Prophecy 2019 · $2.2M 
X-Morph: Defense 2017 · $2.0M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Destroy All Humans! | older | $29.99 | 8,971 92% | 269k | $8.1M (exactly $8,071,209) | Black Forest Games, Pandemic Studios |
| | EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 4.1 The Shadow of New Despair | older | $19.99 | 7,776 95% | 233k | $4.7M (exactly $4,663,267) | SANDLOT |
| | Destroy All Humans! 2 - Reprobed | older | $39.99 | 2,271 79% | 68k | $2.7M (exactly $2,724,519) | Black Forest Games |
| | Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor - Prophecy | older | $24.99 | 2,884 79% | 87k | $2.2M (exactly $2,162,135) | NeocoreGames |
| | X-Morph: Defense | older | $19.99 | 3,272 90% | 98k | $2.0M (exactly $1,962,218) | EXOR Studios |
 | Red Faction®: Armageddon™ | older | $19.99 | 2,615 70% | 78k | $1.6M (exactly $1,568,215) | Volition |
 | Megaton Rainfall | older | $15.99 | 2,155 71% | 65k | $1.0M (exactly $1,033,754) | Pentadimensional Games, SL |
 | Angel at Dusk | older | $14.99 | 1,676 98% | 50k | $754k (exactly $753,697) | Akiragoya |
 | Star Fire: Eternal Cycle | $16.99 | 1,012 91% | 30k | $516k (exactly $515,816) | Ethereal Fish Studio | |
 | RIPOUT | older | $19.99 | 783 65% | 23k | $470k (exactly $469,565) | Pet Project Games |
 | Son of a Gun | $9.99 | 80 78% | 2.4k | $24k (exactly $23,976) | Crank Goblin | |
 | Exovoid Carnage | $19.99 | 18 94% | 540 | $11k (exactly $10,795) | Man Up Time, LLC | |
 | Maelstrom: The Battle for Earth Begins Enhanced | $6.99 | 33 75% | 990 | $6.9k (exactly $6,920) | KDV Games | |
 | Bumper Blitz TD | $14.99 | 15 86% | 450 | $6.7k (exactly $6,746) | Ragnarok Studios | |
 | Beyond Solar | · EA | $9.99 | 17 88% | 510 | $5.1k (exactly $5,095) | COREGAME Studios |
 | Blast Rush LS | $9.99 | 13 100% | 390 | $3.9k (exactly $3,896) | Bipedal Dog | |
 | Disaster Blaster | $9.99 | 9 88% | 270 | $2.7k (exactly $2,697) | Jarsick | |
 | Blow it up | $4.99 | 18 100% | 540 | $2.7k (exactly $2,695) | Brain Seal Ltd | |
 | I Come In Peace | $4.99 | 14 92% | 420 | $2.1k (exactly $2,096) | Fooya Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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