Do I ship it?

GamesStealthStealth + Base Building

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Base Building Stealth game?

Stealth + Base Building

Of 21 developers who shipped a Base Building Stealth 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.. 57 more are announced, ×5.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $13k, ×20 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.8k; 1 in 20 cleared $73M, ×116864 the market median. Revenue is down 75% on the market; 57 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 20.1 times the market baseline, revenue down 75% on the market, 57 announced, ×5.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Stealth + Base Building
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 21

not enough cohorts to draw

Outcomes for Stealth + Base Building: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 21
Bottom 30% $1.8k (exactly $1,796)
Median $13k (exactly $12,592)
Top 25% $407k (exactly $407,428)
Top 5% $73M (exactly $73,390,814)
Developers, 2 yr 21
Released games 44
Announced 57
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
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 75% on the market, supply 10% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 9%, 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.

Stealth
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
Stealth, Base Building; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Open World, Crafting
Price point
$14.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $14.99.

The top 10 games average 94% positive over 332,076 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $1.8k, median $13k, 1 in 4 over $400k, 1 in 20 over $73M.

3 in 10 developers made under $1.8k. 5 in 10 of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 57 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.7 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + JRPGFair7 devs · median $1.3k · 12 announced
  2. + World War IIPoor odds11 devs · median $43k · 14 announced
  3. + LGBTQ+Poor odds19 devs · median $30k · 30 announced
  4. + Turn-Based CombatPoor odds8 devs · median $27k · 31 announced
  5. + WargamePoor odds10 devs · median $21k · 39 announced
  6. + DinosaursPoor odds10 devs · median $17k · 23 announced
  7. + Gun CustomizationPoor odds20 devs · median $13k · 63 announced
  8. + Cold WarPoor odds7 devs · median $10k · 31 announced
  9. + HistoricalPoor odds32 devs · median $9.6k · 76 announced
  10. + MilitaryPoor odds43 devs · median $8.5k · 122 announced
  11. + WarPoor odds30 devs · median $7.6k · 89 announced
  12. + DrivingPoor odds18 devs · median $6.6k · 35 announced

All 159 pairs on the Stealth page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Schedule I · EA $19.99 288,939 97% 8.7M $173M (exactly $173,276,718) TVGS
Kenshi older $29.99 98,451 95% 3.0M $89M (exactly $88,576,365) Lo-Fi Games
Assassin's Creed Valhalla older $59.99 41,083 70% 1.2M $74M (exactly $73,937,075) Ubisoft Montreal
Assassin’s Creed Shadows $69.99 34,953 75% 1.0M $73M (exactly $73,390,814) Ubisoft Quebec, Ubisoft Belgrade, Ubiso… (Ubisoft Quebec, Ubisoft Belgrade, Ubisoft Bordeaux, Ubisoft Bucharest & Craiova, Ubisoft Chengdu, Ubisoft Montpellier, Ubisoft Montreal, Ubisoft Osaka, Ubisoft Philippines, Ubisoft Shanghai, Ubisoft Singapore, Ubisoft Sofia, Ubisoft Ukraine)
This War of Mine older $19.99 81,804 93% 2.5M $49M (exactly $49,057,859) 11 bit studios
Chernobylite Complete Edition older $29.99 12,416 81% 372k $11M (exactly $11,170,675) The Farm 51
Fallout 4 VR older $59.99 5,620 61% 169k $10M (exactly $10,114,314) Bethesda Game Studios
METAL GEAR SURVIVE older $29.99 3,687 64% 111k $3.3M (exactly $3,317,194) KONAMI
Zompiercer · EA older $19.99 4,562 88% 137k $2.7M (exactly $2,735,831) DDDimanN
Survivalist: Invisible Strain $11.99 4,014 87% 120k $1.4M (exactly $1,443,836) Bob
ERA ONE · EA $29.99 1,575 86% 47k $1.4M (exactly $1,417,028) Team Complex LTD
Survive the Fall $24.99 590 65% 18k $442k (exactly $442,323) Angry Bulls Studio
Dirty Business · EA $14.99 906 75% 27k $407k (exactly $407,428) Plan Dirty Games
Winter Survival $18.99 595 62% 18k $339k (exactly $338,972) DRAGO entertainment
Dying Breed · EA $17.99 218 71% 6.5k $118k (exactly $117,655) Sarnayer
Crime Shop Simulator: A Prison Boss Game $19.99 157 85% 4.7k $94k (exactly $94,153) TREBUCHET
Tales of Old: Dominus $14.99 129 47% 3.9k $58k (exactly $58,011) Hvmana Industries MMD

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