Do I ship it?

GamesSportsSports + Base Building

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Base Building Sports game?

Sports + Base Building

Only 16 developers shipped a Base Building Sports game 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, GT Manager, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 10 more are announced.

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

The middle developer here made $3.6k, ×5.7 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $900; 1 in 20 cleared $170k, ×282 the market median. Revenue is down 65% on the market; 10 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 5.7 times the market baseline, revenue down 65% on the market, 10 announced, ×0.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Sports + Base Building
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 16
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $92k → $11k → $2.1k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Sports + Base Building: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 16
Bottom 30% $899 (exactly $899)
Median $3.6k (exactly $3,598)
Top 25% $87k (exactly $86,913)
Top 5% $177k (exactly $176,929)
Developers, 2 yr 16
Released games 31
Announced 10
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 65% on the market, supply 120% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 3%, 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.

Sports
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Base Building
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium 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
Sports, Base Building; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Immersive Sim, Management
Price point
$8.99 typical · top 25% priced $39.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Dialogue Heavy, Family Friendly
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $39.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.

The top 10 games average 75% positive over 986 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $900, median $3.6k, 1 in 4 over $86k, 1 in 20 over $170k.

3 in 10 developers made under $900. 6 in 10 of the 5 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 10 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Dynamic NarrationStrong odds17 devs · median $4.2k · 9 announced
  2. + CraftingFair24 devs · median $37k · 26 announced
  3. + Strategy RPGFair23 devs · median $4.7k · 26 announced
  4. + SandboxFair83 devs · median $4.2k · 103 announced
  5. + Split ScreenFair58 devs · median $4.0k · 52 announced
  6. + Dating SimFair29 devs · median $3.6k · 21 announced
  7. + Visual NovelFair38 devs · median $3.4k · 31 announced
  8. + LGBTQ+Fair14 devs · median $3.4k · 13 announced
  9. + FMVFair17 devs · median $2.7k · 5 announced
  10. + BikesFair25 devs · median $2.5k · 18 announced
  11. + Immersive SimFair182 devs · median $2.4k · 185 announced
  12. + Choices MatterFair120 devs · median $2.4k · 150 announced

All 199 pairs on the Sports page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
F1® Manager 2024 older $34.99 5,554 83% 167k $5.8M (exactly $5,830,034) Frontier Developments
GT Manager $24.99 236 71% 7.1k $177k (exactly $176,929) THE TINY DIGITAL FACTORY, IMV STUDIO
GEL RUN $39.99 83 89% 2.5k $100k (exactly $99,575) Kaloyan Stoyanov
Under Par Golf Architect $19.99 158 81% 4.7k $95k (exactly $94,753) Broken Arms Games
Gym Manager older $9.99 306 80% 9.2k $92k (exactly $91,708) Han GAMES
CFS (Chinese Football Simulator) $9.99 290 67% 8.7k $87k (exactly $86,913) 悟空实验室
Resort Boss: Golf older $12.99 95 35% 2.9k $37k (exactly $37,022) Gus Martin
Open Wheel Manager 2 $9.99 104 72% 3.1k $31k (exactly $31,169) Paprikash Games
Ski Park Tycoon older $9.99 74 60% 2.2k $22k (exactly $22,178) by Jan Zizka
Octohill Ski Tycoon $8.99 41 85% 1.2k $11k (exactly $11,058) DeuxBaguettes
Jumbo Scooter $5.00 34 85% 1.0k $5.1k (exactly $5,100) BepeDev
Dynasty! $14.99 8 87% 240 $3.6k (exactly $3,598) newberry94005
Gym Empire - Idle Gym Tycoon Management $4.99 14 71% 420 $2.1k (exactly $2,096) Chronik Spartan
Wukong Survivors :Begin $2.99 18 100% 540 $1.6k (exactly $1,615) Seal233

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