Do I ship it?

Games › Tactical › Tactical + Auto Battler

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Auto Battler Tactical game?

Tactical + Auto Battler

Of 184 developers who shipped an Auto Battler 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.. 334 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $2.7k, ×4.3 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $900k, ×1443 the market median. Revenue is down 65% on the market; 334 games are announced against 111 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 4.3 times the market baseline, revenue down 65% on the market, 334 announced, ×3.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Tactical + Auto Battler
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 184
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $4.7k → $779 → $4.3k → $4.6k → $5.0k → $8.4k → $899 (still earning) → $1.2k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Tactical + Auto Battler: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 184
Bottom 30% $599 (exactly $599)
Median $2.7k (exactly $2,697)
Top 25% $36k (exactly $35,976)
Top 5% $906k (exactly $906,293)
Developers, 2 yr 184
Released games 364
Announced 334
Effort 6 / 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 down 65% on the market, supply 50% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 17%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Tactical
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Auto Battler
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Tactical, Auto Battler; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Roguelike, Roguelite
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 83% positive over 78,311 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $600, median $2.7k, 1 in 4 over $35k, 1 in 20 over $900k.

3 in 10 developers made under $600. 6 in 10 of the 84 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 334 games are announced against 111 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Tactical with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Football (American)Strong odds12 devs · median $5.8k · 8 announced
  2. + Mystery DungeonStrong odds20 devs · median $2.5k · 15 announced
  3. + Dating SimFair13 devs · median $11k · 9 announced
  4. + 6DOFFair14 devs · median $2.4k · 19 announced
  5. + Word GameFair23 devs · median $1.8k · 12 announced
  6. + TypingFair16 devs · median $1.2k · 9 announced
  7. + DwarvesFair7 devs · median $1.0k · 10 announced
  8. + Traditional RoguelikeFair38 devs · median $987 · 57 announced
  9. + Dynamic NarrationFair13 devs · median $899 · 16 announced
  10. + Farming SimFair12 devs · median $897 · 10 announced
  11. + SolitaireFair25 devs · median $479 · 22 announced
  12. + LGBTQ+Fair20 devs · median $479 · 21 announced

All 226 pairs on the Tactical page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

The Bazaar 2025 · $9.0M Backpack Battles 2025 · $8.5M Mechabellum 2024 · $8.0M Symphony of War: The Nephilim Saga 2022 · $7.7M Bad North: Jotunn Edition 2018 · $5.6M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
The Bazaar $19.99 14,931 70% 448k $9.0M (exactly $8,954,121) Tempo
Backpack Battles $14.99 18,933 91% 568k $8.5M (exactly $8,514,170) PlayWithFurcifer
Mechabellum $14.99 17,856 84% 536k $8.0M (exactly $8,029,843) Game River
Symphony of War: The Nephilim Saga older $19.99 12,880 94% 386k $7.7M (exactly $7,724,136) Dancing Dragon Games
Bad North: Jotunn Edition older $14.99 12,344 93% 370k $5.6M (exactly $5,551,097) Plausible Concept, Oskar Stålberg
The King is Watching $14.99 9,006 88% 270k $4.0M (exactly $4,049,998) Hypnohead
Tower Dominion $17.49 5,117 85% 154k $2.7M (exactly $2,684,890) Parallel 45 Games
Esports Godfather older $19.99 4,319 90% 130k $2.6M (exactly $2,590,104) Asteroid Game Studio
Hero's Hour older $17.99 4,643 79% 139k $2.5M (exactly $2,505,827) Benjamin "ThingOnItsOwn" Hauer
Warpips older $16.99 4,339 87% 130k $2.2M (exactly $2,211,588) Skirmish Mode Games
Songs of Silence $29.99 2,367 79% 71k $2.1M (exactly $2,129,590) Chimera Entertainment
The Last Flame $19.99 2,744 85% 82k $1.6M (exactly $1,645,577) Hotloop
The Great Villainess: Strategy of Lily $29.99 1,529 85% 46k $1.4M (exactly $1,375,641) Alliance Arts, One or Eight, WSS Playgr… (Alliance Arts, One or Eight, WSS Playground)
Commander Quest $11.99 2,804 74% 84k $1.0M (exactly $1,008,599) Flyway Games, Inc.
Oaken Tower · EA $9.99 3,024 89% 91k $906k (exactly $906,293) Bocary Studios

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.