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Should I ship an Arcade Tactical game?
Tactical + Arcade
Of 228 developers who shipped an Arcade Tactical 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.. 327 more are announced, ×2.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $240 in the last 2 years and $270 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 6 / 10 build. 145 developers shipped in the last year and 327 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $0 (exactly $0) |
|---|---|
| Median | $240 (exactly $240) |
| Top 25% | $2.5k (exactly $2,516) |
| Top 5% | $94k (exactly $94,406) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 228 |
| Released games | 676 |
| Announced | 327 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $4.99 |
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 55% on the market, supply 75% more 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.
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Tactical, Arcade; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Strategy, Shooter
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Colorful, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 82% positive over 32,399 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $50. 9 in 10 of the 110 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 327 games are announced against 145 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Tactical with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Football (American)Strong odds
- + Mystery DungeonStrong odds
- + Dating SimFair
- + 6DOFFair
- + Word GameFair
- + TypingFair
- + DwarvesFair
- + Traditional RoguelikeFair
- + Dynamic NarrationFair
- + Farming SimFair
- + SolitaireFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
Comparable games
STAR WARS Zero Company™ 2026 · $29M 
Xenonauts 2 2026 · $5.8M 
Heliborne Collection 2017 · $2.9M 
Suit for Hire 2025 · $1.5M 
War Dust VR: 32v32 Battlefields 2020 · $1.1M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | STAR WARS Zero Company™ | $49.99 | 19,521 82% | 586k | $29M (exactly $29,275,644) | Bit Reactor | |
| | Xenonauts 2 | $39.99 | 4,853 81% | 146k | $5.8M (exactly $5,822,144) | Goldhawk Interactive | |
| | Heliborne Collection | older | $29.99 | 3,255 76% | 98k | $2.9M (exactly $2,928,524) | Klabater |
| | Suit for Hire | $14.99 | 3,263 92% | 98k | $1.5M (exactly $1,467,371) | Godmode Interactive | |
| | War Dust VR: 32v32 Battlefields | older | $24.99 | 1,489 80% | 45k | $1.1M (exactly $1,116,303) | raptor lab |
 | Heretic's Fork | older | $9.99 | 3,097 85% | 93k | $928k (exactly $928,171) | 9FingerGames |
 | Children of the Sun | older | $14.99 | 2,005 92% | 60k | $902k (exactly $901,648) | René Rother |
 | Warhounds | $34.99 | 735 71% | 22k | $772k (exactly $771,530) | Everplay DMCC | |
 | Gambonanza | $14.99 | 1,604 74% | 48k | $721k (exactly $721,319) | Blukulélé | |
 | Machine Mind | $19.99 | 567 71% | 17k | $340k (exactly $340,030) | Chudo-Yudo Games | |
 | Metal Thunder | · EA | $10.99 | 567 76% | 17k | $187k (exactly $186,940) | Dumbbell Games |
 | Bendy: Lone Wolf | $19.99 | 259 77% | 7.8k | $155k (exactly $155,322) | Joey Drew Studios | |
 | Motion Soccer PRO | $19.99 | 223 79% | 6.7k | $134k (exactly $133,733) | Ivanovich Games | |
 | Shooters, Ready! | $4.99 | 807 99% | 24k | $121k (exactly $120,808) | おこめたべたべず |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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