Do I ship it?

GamesGrand StrategyGrand Strategy + Aliens

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Alien Grand Strategy?

Grand Strategy + Aliens

Only 6 developers shipped an Alien Grand Strategy in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Astro Protocol, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 7 more are announced, ×2.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 7 / 10 build.

Only 3 developers shipped this in the last year, under the 5 a verdict needs; over 2 years the middle one made $9.8k against a market of $1.5k. 7 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 6.6 times the market baseline, revenue up 3236295% on the market, 7 announced, ×2.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Grand Strategy + Aliens
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 6

not enough cohorts to draw

Outcomes for Grand Strategy + Aliens: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 6
Bottom 30% $0 (exactly $0)
Median $9.8k (exactly $9,828)
Top 25% $18k (exactly $18,034)
Top 5% $24k (exactly $23,740)
Developers, 2 yr 6
Released games 41
Announced 7
Effort 7 / 10
AI-buildability Low
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 too few recent games to read momentum, supply as many developers as the period before.

Free games: 15%, 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 low: the lowest rating among its tags.

Grand Strategy
effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low 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
7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
Systems
Grand Strategy
Price point
$9.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

Fewer than 10 games in the last 2 years; sentiment and price figures use the all window.

The top 25% priced at $39.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 75% positive over 46,884 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 $9.8k, 1 in 4 over $18k, 1 in 20 over $23k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. 8 in 10 of the 5 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 7 games are announced against 3 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.3 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + RoguelikeFair18 devs · median $3.3k · 22 announced
  2. + SportsFair21 devs · median $2.1k · 26 announced
  3. + RogueliteFair21 devs · median $2.0k · 23 announced
  4. + CrimeFair8 devs · median $1.9k · 13 announced
  5. + RacingFair8 devs · median $1.8k · 7 announced
  6. + IncrementalFair17 devs · median $1.3k · 27 announced
  7. + Artificial IntelligenceLong shot21 devs · median $750 · 38 announced
  8. + TabletopLong shot26 devs · median $450 · 26 announced
  9. + Turn-BasedPoor odds19 devs · median $131k · 20 announced
  10. + SandboxPoor odds59 devs · median $51k · 125 announced
  11. + Real-Time with PausePoor odds15 devs · median $37k · 29 announced
  12. + DiplomacyPoor odds54 devs · median $34k · 117 announced

All 104 pairs on the Grand Strategy page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Sid Meier's Civilization®: Beyond Earth™ older $39.99 14,047 61% 421k $17M (exactly $16,852,186) Firaxis Games, Aspyr (Mac), Aspyr (Linu… (Firaxis Games, Aspyr (Mac), Aspyr (Linux))
Galactic Civilizations III older $29.99 8,337 77% 250k $7.5M (exactly $7,500,799) Stardock Entertainment
Phoenix Point older $24.99 5,375 73% 161k $4.0M (exactly $4,029,637) Snapshot Games Inc.
Xenonauts older $24.99 3,815 86% 114k $2.9M (exactly $2,860,106) Goldhawk Interactive
ENDLESS Space™ - Definitive Edition older $9.99 6,626 79% 199k $2.0M (exactly $1,985,812) AMPLITUDE Studios
Shadow Empire older $39.99 1,431 82% 43k $1.7M (exactly $1,716,771) VR Designs
Command & Conquer™ 3: Kane’s Wrath older $6.96 5,499 93% 165k $1.1M (exactly $1,148,191) EA Los Angeles
Polaris Sector older $39.99 419 70% 13k $503k (exactly $502,674) SoftWarWare
Galactic Civilizations® II: Ultimate Edition older $9.99 955 80% 29k $286k (exactly $286,214) Stardock Entertainment
The Last Federation older $19.99 380 72% 11k $228k (exactly $227,886) Arcen Games
Astro Protocol $11.99 66 93% 2.0k $24k (exactly $23,740) Null Vector Studios
Death row inmates on the run 2--The Resistance $6.99 86 55% 2.6k $18k (exactly $18,034) zzzgame
Deep Dark Forest $7.99 41 87% 1.2k $9.8k (exactly $9,828) pixiangames
Attorney Adventure · EA $9.99 2 50% 60 $599 (exactly $599) Ambearth Games
Heroes of Higher Realms $11.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) DreamMasters Studio
Exodus Frontier: The Last Stand $2.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) Shupernom LTD

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