Do I ship it?

GamesStrategy RPGStrategy RPG + Aliens

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Alien Strategy RPG?

Strategy RPG + Aliens

Of 20 developers who shipped an Alien Strategy RPG 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.. 29 more are announced.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $510, ×0.8 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $1.6M, ×2605 the market median. Revenue is down 70% on the market; 29 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 0.8 times the market baseline, revenue down 70% on the market, 29 announced, ×1.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Strategy RPG + Aliens
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 20
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $275k → $42k → $839 → $418 (still earning) → $505 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Strategy RPG + Aliens: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 20
Bottom 30% $299 (exactly $299)
Median $505 (exactly $505)
Top 25% $5.8k (exactly $5,756)
Top 5% $1.6M (exactly $1,635,655)
Developers, 2 yr 20
Released games 52
Announced 29
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $6.99

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 70% on the market, supply 200% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 13%, 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.

Strategy RPG
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
Strategy RPG; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RTS, Strategy, Character Customization
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 73% positive over 2,408 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $300, median $510, 1 in 4 over $5.7k, 1 in 20 over $1.6M.

3 in 10 developers made under $300. 6 in 10 of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 29 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + SportsFair23 devs · median $4.7k · 26 announced
  2. + SwordplayFair22 devs · median $2.7k · 28 announced
  3. + Bullet HellFair40 devs · median $2.0k · 31 announced
  4. + EconomyFair95 devs · median $2.0k · 128 announced
  5. + Asynchronous MultiplayerFair8 devs · median $1.6k · 13 announced
  6. + ConspiracyFair19 devs · median $1.2k · 21 announced
  7. + Shop KeeperFair21 devs · median $987 · 25 announced
  8. + 2D PlatformerFair108 devs · median $479 · 113 announced
  9. + Point & ClickFair43 devs · median $450 · 47 announced
  10. + Turn-BasedPoor odds58 devs · median $63k · 76 announced
  11. + Dating SimPoor odds30 devs · median $35k · 41 announced
  12. + 4XPoor odds15 devs · median $31k · 33 announced

All 158 pairs on the Strategy RPG page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Xenonauts older $24.99 3,815 86% 114k $2.9M (exactly $2,860,106) Goldhawk Interactive
Starminer · EA $29.99 1,818 72% 55k $1.6M (exactly $1,635,655) CoolAndGoodGames
Red Solstice 2: Survivors older $14.99 2,585 70% 78k $1.2M (exactly $1,162,474) Ironward
Warhammer 40,000: Armageddon (Classic) older $19.99 945 81% 28k $567k (exactly $566,716) Flashback Games, The Lordz Games Studio
Polaris Sector older $39.99 419 70% 13k $503k (exactly $502,674) SoftWarWare
Lightracer Spark older $12.99 970 83% 29k $378k (exactly $378,009) Smartmelon Games
Every Day We Fight · EA $29.99 385 72% 12k $346k (exactly $346,384) Signal Space Lab
Templar Battleforce older $9.99 931 92% 28k $279k (exactly $279,021) Trese Brothers
Black & White older $14.99 612 71% 18k $275k (exactly $275,216) 零创游戏(ZerocreationGame)
The Red Solstice older $9.99 883 72% 26k $265k (exactly $264,635) Ironward
WARSHIFT 2 $19.99 54 70% 1.6k $32k (exactly $32,384) Cyril Megem
Live Hard, Die Hard $4.99 83 89% 2.5k $12k (exactly $12,425) Asobism.Co.,Ltd
Expedition: Shadow World $15.99 12 100% 360 $5.8k (exactly $5,756) Pavel Tanonov
Egglets - The Long 10 Days $8.99 21 100% 630 $5.7k (exactly $5,664) wieLuft
Ark of Trisolar (三体方舟) $6.99 13 92% 390 $2.7k (exactly $2,726) Binary Studio
重生之时 - Rebirth Moment $6.99 4 0% 120 $839 (exactly $839) Polatouche Studio
Ironseed 3 : Vigil $17.99 1 100% 30 $540 (exactly $540) Robert Morgan
the epic and amazing adventure of gleepglorrpgilliandoohiggintilliousMMDCCXXXIX the adventure where gleepglorrpgilliandoohiggintilliousMMDCCXXXIX lives and becomes king gleepglorrpgilliandoohiggintilliousMMDCCXXXIX $0.99 17 100% 510 $505 (exactly $505) Hydyhude

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