Games › Swordplay › Swordplay + Base Building
Should I ship a Base Building Swordplay game?
Swordplay + Base Building
Only 12 developers shipped a Base Building Swordplay 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, Assassin’s Creed Shadows, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 26 more are announced, ×5.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $9.0k, ×14 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $73M, ×116864 the market median. Revenue is up 31820% on the market; 26 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $300 (exactly $300) |
|---|---|
| Median | $9.0k (exactly $8,992) |
| Top 25% | $356k (exactly $356,108) |
| Top 5% | $73M (exactly $73,390,814) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 12 |
| Released games | 28 |
| Announced | 26 |
| 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 up 31820% on the market, supply 30% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 4%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Swordplay
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Base Building
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Swordplay, Base Building
- Price point
- $14.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 10 games average 74% positive over 38,373 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 6 in 10 of the 8 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 26 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Swordplay with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Visual NovelFair
- + Strategy RPGFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + DeckbuildingFair
- + Shoot 'Em UpLong shot
- + SamuraiPoor odds
- + JRPGPoor odds
- + Female ProtagonistPoor odds
- + FightingPoor odds
- + Co-opPoor odds
- + Open WorldPoor odds
Comparable games
Kenshi 2018 · $89M 
Assassin’s Creed Shadows 2025 · $73M 
NORSE: Oath of Blood 2026 · $2.7M 
Forgotten Seas 2025 · $356k 
VALHALL: Harbinger 2020 · EA · $324k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Kenshi | older | $29.99 | 98,451 95% | 3.0M | $89M (exactly $88,576,365) | Lo-Fi Games |
| | 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) | |
| | NORSE: Oath of Blood | $34.99 | 2,535 56% | 76k | $2.7M (exactly $2,660,990) | Arctic Hazard | |
| | Forgotten Seas | $24.99 | 475 75% | 14k | $356k (exactly $356,108) | Pangea Game Studios | |
| | VALHALL: Harbinger | · EA older | $29.99 | 360 62% | 11k | $324k (exactly $323,892) | Blackrose Arts |
 | Korea Dynasty (조선메타실록) | · EA older | $23.99 | 267 72% | 8.0k | $192k (exactly $192,160) | Happy Daram Inc. |
 | Warlord: Awaji | $24.99 | 256 78% | 7.7k | $192k (exactly $191,923) | Darkmatter Games | |
 | Feral Blue | · EA older | $19.99 | 239 51% | 7.2k | $143k (exactly $143,328) | Snowbird Games |
 | Eden Island | older | $14.99 | 232 58% | 7.0k | $104k (exactly $104,330) | Moon Studio |
 | Barbaria | older | $19.99 | 129 93% | 3.9k | $77k (exactly $77,361) | Stalwart Games, LLC |
 | The Last King | · EA | $14.99 | 122 79% | 3.7k | $55k (exactly $54,863) | Mayawi software |
 | Robin Hood: Sherwood Defenders | $11.99 | 25 44% | 750 | $9.0k (exactly $8,992) | MeanAstronauts | |
 | SurvivalWorld | · EA | $11.99 | 3 100% | 90 | $1.1k (exactly $1,079) | Robert De Leon |
 | This sect accepts female disciples only | $8.99 | 2 50% | 60 | $539 (exactly $539) | sln | |
 | Knight of Noshland | $9.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $300 (exactly $300) | Meow Burrito Games | |
 | Mogradiz | $7.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $240 (exactly $240) | Vyrnetic |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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