Games › Sports › Sports + Auto Battler
Should I ship an Auto Battler Sports game?
Sports + Auto Battler
Of 28 developers who shipped an Auto Battler Sports 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.. 25 more are announced.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $3.4k, ×5.3 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $110k, ×183 the market median. Revenue is down 60% on the market; 25 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $599 (exactly $599) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.4k (exactly $3,356) |
| Top 25% | $9.4k (exactly $9,431) |
| Top 5% | $115k (exactly $115,171) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 28 |
| Released games | 84 |
| Announced | 25 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $8.99 |
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 60% on the market, supply 120% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 6%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Sports
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Auto Battler
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Sports, Auto Battler; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Character Customization, Management
- Price point
- $8.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Cartoony
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.
The top 10 games average 65% positive over 2,888 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $600. 9 in 10 of the 14 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 25 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Sports with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Dynamic NarrationStrong odds
- + CraftingFair
- + Strategy RPGFair
- + SandboxFair
- + Split ScreenFair
- + Dating SimFair
- + Visual NovelFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + FMVFair
- + BikesFair
- + Immersive SimFair
- + Choices MatterFair
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Esports Godfather | older | $19.99 | 4,319 90% | 130k | $2.6M (exactly $2,590,104) | Asteroid Game Studio |
| | Teamfight Manager | older | $9.99 | 5,663 86% | 170k | $1.7M (exactly $1,697,201) | Team Samoyed |
| | Teamfight Manager 2 | · EA | $19.99 | 2,251 60% | 68k | $1.3M (exactly $1,349,925) | Team Samoyed |
| | Age of Gladiators | older | $7.99 | 709 77% | 21k | $170k (exactly $169,947) | Creative Storm Entertainment |
| | Turnfall | $39.99 | 96 95% | 2.9k | $115k (exactly $115,171) | Koleapin Studio | |
| | Squiggle Football | $16.99 | 144 93% | 4.3k | $73k (exactly $73,397) | Max Barry | |
| | Basketball Club Story | older | $8.99 | 184 71% | 5.5k | $50k (exactly $49,625) | Kairosoft Co.,Ltd |
| | Electro Bop Boxing League | $14.99 | 84 79% | 2.5k | $38k (exactly $37,775) | Developer Dob | |
| | Neon Curves Racing | $12.99 | 92 94% | 2.8k | $36k (exactly $35,852) | Ghost Machine | |
| | Pro Wrestler Story | $8.99 | 109 49% | 3.3k | $29k (exactly $29,397) | Kairosoft Co.,Ltd | |
| | TORSO TENNIS | $4.99 | 63 100% | 1.9k | $9.4k (exactly $9,431) | Michael Mato | |
| | Brutal Ball Manager 2 | · EA | $9.99 | 18 100% | 540 | $5.4k (exactly $5,395) | Stout Kassel Games |
| | Bastionforge | $9.99 | 17 76% | 510 | $5.1k (exactly $5,095) | Gamesforgames | |
| | Turn Based Boxing: Tactics - Legends Edition | $9.99 | 14 85% | 420 | $4.2k (exactly $4,196) | The Slanted Room |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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