Games › Loot › Loot + Alternate History
Should I ship an Alternate-History Loot game?
Loot + Alternate History
Only 13 developers shipped an Alternate-History Loot game 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, Hell Clock, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 32 more are announced, ×5.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $600, level with the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $270; 1 in 20 cleared $2.1M, ×3376 the market median. Revenue is up 70% on the market; 32 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $267 (exactly $267) |
|---|---|
| Median | $599 (exactly $599) |
| Top 25% | $73k (exactly $73,127) |
| Top 5% | $2.1M (exactly $2,119,940) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 13 |
| Released games | 41 |
| Announced | 32 |
| 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 up 70% on the market, supply 15% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 22%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Loot
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Alternate History
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Loot
- Price point
- $6.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 10 games average 72% positive over 5,981 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $270. 6 in 10 of the 11 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 32 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Loot with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Artificial IntelligenceStrong odds
- + Local Co-OpStrong odds
- + SteampunkStrong odds
- + CapitalismFair
- + Turn-Based StrategyFair
- + JRPGFair
- + EconomyFair
- + IdlerFair
- + CatsFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + Creature CollectorFair
- + CollectathonFair
Comparable games
Marauders 2022 · EA · $12M 
Hell Clock 2025 · $2.1M 
再刷一把 PlayAgain 2022 · $1.2M 
Alien Shooter 2: Reloaded 2009 · $377k 
Fate Seeker: Journey 2022 · $332k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Marauders | · EA older | $29.99 | 13,505 68% | 405k | $12M (exactly $12,150,448) | Small Impact Games |
| | Hell Clock | $19.99 | 3,535 82% | 106k | $2.1M (exactly $2,119,940) | Rogue Snail | |
| | 再刷一把 PlayAgain | older | $8.99 | 4,416 67% | 132k | $1.2M (exactly $1,190,995) | 滑稽工作室 |
| | Alien Shooter 2: Reloaded | older | $4.99 | 2,517 92% | 76k | $377k (exactly $376,795) | Sigma Team Inc. |
| | Fate Seeker: Journey | older | $10.00 | 1,105 77% | 33k | $332k (exactly $331,500) | JSL Entertainment |
 | Another Try 2 | · EA | $6.99 | 1,000 53% | 30k | $210k (exactly $209,700) | Hoki Wolf Studio |
 | 懒人修仙传2 | · EA older | $7.99 | 873 71% | 26k | $209k (exactly $209,258) | 托更的修罗 |
 | Home and Dungeon | older | $16.99 | 333 84% | 10k | $170k (exactly $169,730) | Manufacture |
 | Thick As Thieves | $4.99 | 1,106 65% | 33k | $166k (exactly $165,568) | OtherSide Entertainment | |
 | Pharaonic | older | $14.99 | 247 77% | 7.4k | $111k (exactly $111,076) | Milkstone Studios |
 | Water Margin Scrolls | $9.99 | 244 40% | 7.3k | $73k (exactly $73,127) | QingHe Games | |
 | Immortal IDLE | · EA | $5.99 | 78 64% | 2.3k | $14k (exactly $14,017) | 伯乐Couple |
 | Renounced | · EA | $6.99 | 3 100% | 90 | $629 (exactly $629) | Emergency Exit |
 | Gladatora | $9.99 | 2 100% | 60 | $599 (exactly $599) | Jeremiah Eastman | |
 | Guards vs Goats | $9.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $300 (exactly $300) | David Amado | |
 | 九州纪之烽烟四起 | · EA | $2.99 | 3 33% | 90 | $269 (exactly $269) | 云中屋网络科技有限公司, 九霄艺画游戏工作室 |
 | 春秋:英雄(Heroes of ChunQiu) | $0.99 | 9 55% | 270 | $267 (exactly $267) | 彩虹工坊 |
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.