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Should I ship a Steampunk Arcade game?
Arcade + Steampunk
Of 29 developers who shipped a Steampunk 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.. 33 more are announced, ×2.1 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 $150; 1 in 20 cleared $78k, ×125 the market median. Revenue is up 5065% on the market; 33 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $150 (exactly $150) |
|---|---|
| Median | $959 (exactly $959) |
| Top 25% | $7.5k (exactly $7,492) |
| Top 5% | $78k (exactly $78,213) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 29 |
| Released games | 77 |
| Announced | 33 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 5065% on the market, supply 25% more developers than 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.
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Arcade; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Action Roguelike, Roguelike
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Top-Down, Hand-drawn
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 89% positive over 822 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 17 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 33 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 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
TTV2 2017 · $223k 
BORE BLASTERS 2024 · $212k 
Wild Guns Reloaded 2017 · $196k 
Jamestown 2011 · $195k 
Sine Mora EX 2017 · $139k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | TTV2 | older | $4.99 | 1,487 86% | 45k | $223k (exactly $222,604) | Walter Machado |
| | BORE BLASTERS | older | $9.99 | 709 80% | 21k | $212k (exactly $212,487) | 8BitSkull |
| | Wild Guns Reloaded | older | $14.99 | 435 88% | 13k | $196k (exactly $195,620) | NatsumeAtari |
| | Jamestown | older | $9.99 | 652 94% | 20k | $195k (exactly $195,404) | Final Form Games |
| | Sine Mora EX | older | $9.99 | 463 66% | 14k | $139k (exactly $138,761) | Digital Reality, Grasshopper Manufactur… (Digital Reality, Grasshopper Manufacture, Gyroscope Games) |
 | Diesel Legacy: The Brazen Age | $19.99 | 145 91% | 4.4k | $87k (exactly $86,956) | Maximum Entertainment | |
 | Airships: Lost Flotilla | $8.99 | 290 92% | 8.7k | $78k (exactly $78,213) | David Stark | |
 | DESTRUCTURE: Among Debris | older | $9.99 | 158 90% | 4.7k | $47k (exactly $47,353) | Team Instant Defeat |
 | Steel Empire | older | $14.99 | 100 77% | 3.0k | $45k (exactly $44,970) | mebius. |
 | Tetropunk | older | $4.99 | 250 73% | 7.5k | $37k (exactly $37,425) | Сrazy Creator, Rosyaev |
 | The Last Citadel | $14.99 | 70 85% | 2.1k | $31k (exactly $31,479) | Honest Demon | |
 | Driveloop: Survivors | · EA | $9.99 | 96 76% | 2.9k | $29k (exactly $28,771) | Stunbyte |
 | Blueblood Arena | · EA | $8.99 | 88 96% | 2.6k | $24k (exactly $23,734) | Team Blueblood |
 | Ratcheteer DX | $12.99 | 30 93% | 900 | $12k (exactly $11,691) | Shaun Inman | |
 | Dark Reaper Shoots! 2 | $5.31 | 52 69% | 1.6k | $8.3k (exactly $8,284) | SummerTimeStudio | |
 | LURRUNA - The Island of Towering Automatons | $9.99 | 25 100% | 750 | $7.5k (exactly $7,492) | PD_CGT | |
 | War of Wheels | · EA | $14.99 | 13 100% | 390 | $5.8k (exactly $5,846) | Dreambits Studio |
 | Knuckle Jet | $14.99 | 13 92% | 390 | $5.8k (exactly $5,846) | Rain Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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