Games › Basketball › Basketball + Physics
Should I ship a Physics Basketball game?
Basketball + Physics
Only 19 developers shipped a Physics Basketball 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, Hoop Land, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 25 more are announced.
Verdict: long shot, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $540, ×0.4 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, but 1 in 20 cleared $310k, ×211 the market median. Revenue is up 30% on the market; 25 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $300 (exactly $300) |
|---|---|
| Median | $537 (exactly $537) |
| Top 25% | $1.3k (exactly $1,347) |
| Top 5% | $316k (exactly $315,689) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 19 |
| Released games | 53 |
| Announced | 25 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $4.99 |
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 30% on the market, supply 115% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 13%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Basketball
- effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
- Physics
- effort 5 / 10 · low · emergent simulation bugs need hands-on tuning
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Basketball, Physics; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Sports, Local Multiplayer, PvP
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, 3D, Colorful
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 95% positive over 837 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. All of the 10 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 25 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Basketball with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + PvPFair
- + SimulationFair
- + Character CustomizationPoor odds
- + Local MultiplayerPoor odds
- + ManagementPoor odds
- + StrategyPoor odds
- + SportsPoor odds
- + ActionPoor odds
- + ArcadePoor odds
- + AdventureDead
- + Immersive SimDead
- + PlatformerDead
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | FlatOut 2 | older | $9.99 | 19,466 95% | 584k | $5.8M (exactly $5,833,960) | Bugbear Entertainment, ZOOM Platform Me… (Bugbear Entertainment, ZOOM Platform Media, Jordan Freeman Group) |
| | All-In-One Sports VR | older | $19.99 | 700 84% | 21k | $420k (exactly $419,790) | Appnori Inc. |
| | Hoop Land | · EA | $14.99 | 702 96% | 21k | $316k (exactly $315,689) | Koality Game |
| | Pile Up! Box by Box | older | $14.99 | 63 92% | 1.9k | $28k (exactly $28,331) | Seed by Seed |
| | Blacktop Hoops | older | $29.99 | 18 77% | 540 | $16k (exactly $16,195) | Vinci Games |
| | TAGLINE | older | $9.99 | 52 92% | 1.6k | $16k (exactly $15,584) | NOTH |
| | Third Person Basketball Court | · EA | $6.99 | 67 86% | 2.0k | $14k (exactly $14,050) | kuroki-gaming |
| | Hooptown Hero | $7.99 | 17 58% | 510 | $4.1k (exactly $4,075) | Goin' Yumbo | |
| | The Dunkers | $9.99 | 13 92% | 390 | $3.9k (exactly $3,896) | UO 5 rusa | |
| | First Person Hooper | older | $4.99 | 24 95% | 720 | $3.6k (exactly $3,593) | Ejo |
| | Jaxx Blorgin's UFO Jam | $4.99 | 9 100% | 270 | $1.3k (exactly $1,347) | Wax Lion | |
| | Mike the Hooper | $3.99 | 10 100% | 300 | $1.2k (exactly $1,197) | Steel Arrow | |
| | Shoot Up Basketball Pro | $9.99 | 3 100% | 90 | $899 (exactly $899) | mindoverloadgames | |
| | BasketBlow | $12.99 | 2 100% | 60 | $779 (exactly $779) | Ledicia Interactiva | |
| | Average Human Ball Game | $4.99 | 5 100% | 150 | $748 (exactly $748) | Ultra Hypa Studios | |
| | Clash of Peaks: Dynasty in Your Grasp | $1.99 | 9 100% | 270 | $537 (exactly $537) | Developers |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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