Do I ship it?

Games › Sports › Sports + Board Game

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Board Game Sports game?

Sports + Board Game

Of 41 developers who shipped a Board Game Sports 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.. 33 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $720, ×1.1 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $120. Revenue is up 45% on the market; 33 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.1 times the market baseline, revenue up 45% on the market, 33 announced, ×1.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Sports + Board Game
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 41
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $4.2k → $6.0k → $2.5k → $2.4k → $210 → $599 → $898 (still earning) → $719 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Sports + Board Game: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 41
Bottom 30% $120 (exactly $120)
Median $719 (exactly $719)
Top 25% $3.0k (exactly $2,998)
Top 5% $114k (exactly $114,417)
Developers, 2 yr 41
Released games 198
Announced 33
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
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 45% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 12%, 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
Board Game
effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high 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, Board Game; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Turn-Based Tactics, PvP
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $34.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Relaxing
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $34.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 80% positive over 817 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $120, median $720, 1 in 4 over $2.9k, 1 in 20 over $110k.

3 in 10 developers made under $120. 8 in 10 of the 26 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 33 games are announced against 24 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

Blood Bowl 2: Legendary Edition (Classic) 2017 · $6.4M Blood Bowl 3 2023 · $3.5M Football, Tactics & Glory 2018 · $3.0M Chess Ultra 2017 · $714k Blood Bowl: Chaos Edition (Classic) 2012 · $623k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Blood Bowl 2: Legendary Edition (Classic) older $29.99 7,077 78% 212k $6.4M (exactly $6,367,177) Cyanide Studios
Blood Bowl 3 older $29.99 3,940 51% 118k $3.5M (exactly $3,544,818) Cyanide Studio
Football, Tactics & Glory older $24.99 3,998 87% 120k $3.0M (exactly $2,997,301) Creoteam
Chess Ultra older $12.99 1,832 76% 55k $714k (exactly $713,930) Ripstone
Blood Bowl: Chaos Edition (Classic) older $14.99 1,386 79% 42k $623k (exactly $623,284) Cyanide Studios
Adorables older $29.99 502 80% 15k $452k (exactly $451,649) White Rabbit
Master of Chess $19.99 290 83% 8.7k $174k (exactly $173,913) BRANE
Turnfall $39.99 96 95% 2.9k $115k (exactly $115,171) Koleapin Studio
TOUHOU GENSOU MAHJONG $34.99 109 46% 3.3k $114k (exactly $114,417) D.N.A. Softwares
Pure Chess Grandmaster Edition older $15.99 233 74% 7.0k $112k (exactly $111,770) Ripstone
Chess Infinity $9.99 84 63% 2.5k $25k (exactly $25,175) Rockwater Games
Pro Strategy Football 2026 $24.99 28 89% 840 $21k (exactly $20,992) Kerry Batts
Break Shoot $4.99 106 99% 3.2k $16k (exactly $15,868) UPTRAND
Game Pulse Payoff Pitch $49.95 9 66% 270 $13k (exactly $13,486) Fireside Experience
Shattered Chess $7.99 28 100% 840 $6.7k (exactly $6,712) Arti Works
Chess of Mana $8.99 17 88% 510 $4.6k (exactly $4,585) Monk Monkey
Board game party $2.99 50 80% 1.5k $4.5k (exactly $4,485) Willgw

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