Do I ship it?

GamesFlightFlight + Cold War

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Cold-War Flight game?

Flight + Cold War

Only 10 developers shipped a Cold-War Flight 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, Vietnam War, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 16 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $11k, ×17 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $540; 1 in 20 cleared $760k, ×1220 the market median. Revenue is down 90% on the market; 16 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 17.2 times the market baseline, revenue down 90% on the market, 16 announced, ×2.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Flight + Cold War
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 10

not enough cohorts to draw

Outcomes for Flight + Cold War: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 10
Bottom 30% $539 (exactly $539)
Median $11k (exactly $10,778)
Top 25% $187k (exactly $186,940)
Top 5% $766k (exactly $766,289)
Developers, 2 yr 10
Released games 29
Announced 16
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $10.99

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 90% on the market, supply 50% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 17%, 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.

Flight
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Cold War
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
Flight
Price point
$10.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 10 games average 82% positive over 2,861 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $540, median $11k, 1 in 4 over $180k, 1 in 20 over $760k.

3 in 10 developers made under $540. 16 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Flight with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Choose Your Own AdventureFair9 devs · median $2.4k · 11 announced
  2. + Hidden ObjectFair9 devs · median $1.3k · 10 announced
  3. + Quick-Time EventsFair9 devs · median $657 · 9 announced
  4. + CatsFair6 devs · median $629 · 10 announced
  5. + Life SimPoor odds12 devs · median $70k · 29 announced
  6. + TradingPoor odds6 devs · median $36k · 21 announced
  7. + MiningPoor odds10 devs · median $35k · 13 announced
  8. + CraftingPoor odds14 devs · median $19k · 57 announced
  9. + Base BuildingPoor odds23 devs · median $17k · 48 announced
  10. + EconomyPoor odds20 devs · median $15k · 45 announced
  11. + RTSPoor odds14 devs · median $15k · 18 announced
  12. + BuildingPoor odds26 devs · median $9.7k · 67 announced

All 132 pairs on the Flight page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
ICBM older $19.99 1,655 91% 50k $993k (exactly $992,503) SoftWarWare, K-Project
Tiny Combat Arena · EA older $19.99 1,511 81% 45k $906k (exactly $906,147) Why485, MicroProse Software
IL-2 Sturmovik: 1946 older $9.99 2,653 88% 80k $795k (exactly $795,104) 1C: Maddox Games
Vietnam War · EA $14.99 1,704 84% 51k $766k (exactly $766,289) Thorium Game Lab
Air Defender · EA $20.19 364 78% 11k $220k (exactly $220,475) ROTOR3
Metal Thunder · EA $10.99 567 76% 17k $187k (exactly $186,940) Dumbbell Games
Aggressor · EA older $19.99 172 61% 5.2k $103k (exactly $103,148) Flashpoint Studios
F-22: Air Dominance Fighter $19.99 138 91% 4.1k $83k (exactly $82,759) Digital Image Design Ltd.
Wings Over Europe older $8.99 117 58% 3.5k $32k (exactly $31,555) Third Wire Productions
Interkosmos older $4.99 201 82% 6.0k $30k (exactly $30,090) Ovid Works
Hijong Park's Defender Patrol $4.99 72 98% 2.2k $11k (exactly $10,778) Hijong Park
FEBA Gunship R $2.99 9 100% 270 $807 (exactly $807) rucsgames
Sky Scramble $5.99 3 100% 90 $539 (exactly $539) SpunjLabs
Sky Combat: WWII Warplane Races · EA $14.99 1 0% 30 $450 (exactly $450) Hard Shark Games
Flight Weapon $5.99 2 100% 60 $359 (exactly $359) Dying Tiger Studios AB
Blue Fury $9.99 1 100% 30 $300 (exactly $300) Tim Wheatley

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