Games › Arcade › Arcade + Historical
Should I ship a Historical Arcade game?
Arcade + Historical
Of 59 developers who shipped a Historical Arcade 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.. 80 more are announced, ×2.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $960, ×1.5 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $32k, ×52 the market median. Revenue is up 260% on the market; 80 games are announced against 28 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $299 (exactly $299) |
|---|---|
| Median | $959 (exactly $959) |
| Top 25% | $2.2k (exactly $2,158) |
| Top 5% | $33k (exactly $32,667) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 59 |
| Released games | 225 |
| Announced | 80 |
| 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 260% on the market, supply 20% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 16%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Arcade
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Historical
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Arcade; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Bullet Hell
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, Retro
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 89% positive over 3,542 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 9 in 10 of the 41 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 80 games are announced against 28 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Arcade with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Roguelike DeckbuilderFair
- + TrainsFair
- + Visual NovelFair
- + MiningFair
- + FaithFair
- + Turn-BasedFair
- + EconomyFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + DeckbuildingFair
- + Card BattlerFair
- + LootFair
- + VampiresFair
Comparable games
Call of Juarez: Gunslinger 2013 · $9.4M 
Hellish Quart 2021 · EA · $4.4M 
Drop Duchy 2025 · $1.3M 
Wanderer 2022 · $989k 
Military Conflict: Vietnam 2022 · EA · $915k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Call of Juarez: Gunslinger | older | $14.99 | 20,869 94% | 626k | $9.4M (exactly $9,384,789) | Techland |
| | Hellish Quart | · EA older | $17.99 | 8,068 88% | 242k | $4.4M (exactly $4,354,300) | Kubold |
| | Drop Duchy | $14.99 | 2,962 89% | 89k | $1.3M (exactly $1,332,011) | Sleepy Mill Studio | |
| | Wanderer | older | $39.99 | 824 83% | 25k | $989k (exactly $988,553) | Mighty Eyes |
| | Military Conflict: Vietnam | · EA older | $14.99 | 2,035 91% | 61k | $915k (exactly $915,140) | Dustfade |
 | Corsairs Legacy - Pirate Action RPG & Sea Battles | · EA older | $19.99 | 1,094 74% | 33k | $656k (exactly $656,072) | Mauris, Tech-5 UG |
 | Rayman Raving Rabbids™ | older | $9.99 | 1,930 84% | 58k | $578k (exactly $578,421) | Ubisoft Bulgaria, Ubisoft Montpellier |
 | Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration | older | $39.99 | 457 92% | 14k | $548k (exactly $548,263) | Digital Eclipse |
 | First Cut: Samurai Duel | older | $8.99 | 1,986 88% | 60k | $536k (exactly $535,624) | Night Eyes Interactive |
 | SAMURAI SHODOWN NEOGEO COLLECTION | older | $39.99 | 370 81% | 11k | $444k (exactly $443,889) | DIGITAL ECLIPSE |
 | Two Strikes | $14.99 | 256 89% | 7.7k | $115k (exactly $115,123) | Retro Reactor | |
 | Saint Slayer: Spear of Sacrilege | $9.99 | 109 94% | 3.3k | $33k (exactly $32,667) | Lillymo Games | |
 | Beach Invasion 1915-Gallipoli | $7.99 | 73 71% | 2.2k | $17k (exactly $17,498) | AIx2 Games | |
 | Threads of War | $4.99 | 45 97% | 1.4k | $6.7k (exactly $6,736) | KoS | |
 | Cloud Keeper: Shrine of Dal | · EA | $6.99 | 28 100% | 840 | $5.9k (exactly $5,872) | Jetpackgone |
 | Cult of Shadows | $14.99 | 11 72% | 330 | $4.9k (exactly $4,947) | Squirrel Tail Games | |
 | World Hockey '88 | $12.99 | 12 83% | 360 | $4.7k (exactly $4,676) | Phantasma Digital | |
 | Balling Up | $3.99 | 39 79% | 1.2k | $4.7k (exactly $4,668) | RedKar Devs | |
 | UNDERGROUNDED | $19.99 | 7 100% | 210 | $4.2k (exactly $4,198) | Game Studio Inc. |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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