Games › CRPG › CRPG + Base Building
Should I ship a Base Building CRPG?
CRPG + Base Building
Only 18 developers shipped a Base Building CRPG in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Blackthorn Arena: Reforged, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 37 more are announced, ×5.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $9.6k, ×6.4 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $900; 1 in 20 cleared $660k, ×441 the market median. Revenue is down 70% on the market; 37 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $898 (exactly $898) |
|---|---|
| Median | $9.6k (exactly $9,576) |
| Top 25% | $114k (exactly $113,774) |
| Top 5% | $661k (exactly $661,235) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 18 |
| Released games | 53 |
| Announced | 37 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $14.99 |
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 70% on the market, supply 35% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 9%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- CRPG
- effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
- Base Building
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- CRPG, Base Building; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Strategy RPG, Character Customization
- Price point
- $14.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Isometric, Top-Down
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $14.99.
The top 10 games average 74% positive over 2,543 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $900. 6 in 10 of the 13 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 37 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
CRPG with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Martial ArtsFair
- + Female ProtagonistFair
- + TabletopFair
- + Traditional RoguelikeFair
- + 2D PlatformerFair
- + IncrementalLong shot
- + FMVPoor odds
- + Card BattlerPoor odds
- + Grid-Based MovementPoor odds
- + SpacePoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
- + Souls-likePoor odds
Comparable games
King Arthur: Knight's Tale 2022 · $9.1M 
SpellForce 3 Reforced 2017 · $6.9M 
Tainted Grail: Conquest 2021 · $4.6M 
Dungeon Alchemist 2022 · EA · $3.6M 
Blackthorn Arena: Reforged 2024 · $661k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | King Arthur: Knight's Tale | older | $44.99 | 6,722 83% | 202k | $9.1M (exactly $9,072,683) | NeocoreGames |
| | SpellForce 3 Reforced | older | $39.99 | 5,784 76% | 174k | $6.9M (exactly $6,939,065) | Grimlore Games |
| | Tainted Grail: Conquest | older | $19.99 | 7,589 90% | 228k | $4.6M (exactly $4,551,123) | Questline |
| | Dungeon Alchemist | · EA older | $44.99 | 2,666 94% | 80k | $3.6M (exactly $3,598,300) | Briganti |
| | Blackthorn Arena: Reforged | $24.99 | 882 66% | 26k | $661k (exactly $661,235) | PersonaeGame Studio | |
 | Zoria: Age of Shattering | older | $24.99 | 545 77% | 16k | $409k (exactly $408,586) | Tiny Trinket Games |
 | Parking Tycoon: Business Simulator | older | $12.99 | 879 64% | 26k | $343k (exactly $342,546) | Geekon |
 | Wanted Raccoon | · EA older | $16.99 | 660 72% | 20k | $336k (exactly $336,402) | MAD Sprouts |
 | Sector Unknown | $24.99 | 373 80% | 11k | $280k (exactly $279,638) | Creative Storm Entertainment | |
 | Escape The Mad Empire | · EA | $17.99 | 406 88% | 12k | $219k (exactly $219,118) | XperimentalZ Games |
 | A Hero's Rest: An RPG Town Simulator | $24.99 | 160 67% | 4.8k | $120k (exactly $119,952) | Vanargand Games | |
 | Border Town | $14.99 | 253 77% | 7.6k | $114k (exactly $113,774) | GoHoGames | |
 | Latex & Tentacles | $10.99 | 343 67% | 10k | $113k (exactly $113,087) | ZXC, GODNASK | |
 | Sea Walker Saga | · EA | $9.99 | 66 93% | 2.0k | $20k (exactly $19,780) | Antelus Games |
 | Tales from The Dancing Moon | $17.99 | 34 88% | 1.0k | $18k (exactly $18,350) | DjMonkey | |
 | Holonoptic | $19.95 | 16 93% | 480 | $9.6k (exactly $9,576) | Glazial | |
 | Alone: Shattered Tribes | $10.99 | 10 90% | 300 | $3.3k (exactly $3,297) | Super Llama Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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