Games › Management › Management + Cold War
Should I ship a Cold-War Management game?
Management + Cold War
Only 14 developers shipped a Cold-War Management 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, ICBM: Escalation, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 34 more are announced, ×3.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.3k, ×2.1 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $900; 1 in 20 cleared $1.1M, ×1788 the market median. Revenue is up 170% on the market; 34 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $900 (exactly $900) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.3k (exactly $1,349) |
| Top 25% | $9.9k (exactly $9,890) |
| Top 5% | $1.1M (exactly $1,122,826) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 14 |
| Released games | 46 |
| Announced | 34 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $6.00 |
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 170% on the market, supply 80% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 17%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Management
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Cold War
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Management; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Grand Strategy, Strategy, Diplomacy
- Price point
- $6.00 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
- Art
- 8 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $6.00.
The top 10 games average 84% positive over 2,208 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $900. 7 in 10 of the 6 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 34 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Management with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + RomeFair
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + WesternFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + JRPGFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + RhythmFair
- + UnderwaterFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + DwarvesFair
- + 3D FighterFair
- + IncrementalFair
Comparable games
Phantom Doctrine 2018 · $4.6M 
Tropico 4 2011 · $3.7M 
Xenonauts 2014 · $2.9M 
DEFCON 2006 · $1.2M 
ICBM: Escalation 2024 · $1.1M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Phantom Doctrine | older | $39.99 | 3,821 73% | 115k | $4.6M (exactly $4,584,054) | CreativeForge Games |
| | Tropico 4 | older | $14.99 | 8,211 91% | 246k | $3.7M (exactly $3,692,487) | Haemimont Games |
| | Xenonauts | older | $24.99 | 3,815 86% | 114k | $2.9M (exactly $2,860,106) | Goldhawk Interactive |
| | DEFCON | older | $11.99 | 3,460 86% | 104k | $1.2M (exactly $1,244,562) | Introversion Software |
| | ICBM: Escalation | $29.99 | 1,248 86% | 37k | $1.1M (exactly $1,122,826) | SoftWarWare | |
 | Radio Commander: Vietnam '64 | older | $19.99 | 1,764 72% | 53k | $1.1M (exactly $1,057,871) | Serious Sim |
 | Rule the Waves 3 | older | $39.99 | 855 87% | 26k | $1.0M (exactly $1,025,744) | Naval Warfare Simulations |
 | 60 Parsecs! | older | $9.99 | 3,310 90% | 99k | $992k (exactly $992,007) | Robot Gentleman |
 | Arms Trade Tycoon: Tanks | · EA older | $29.99 | 1,000 65% | 30k | $900k (exactly $899,700) | FunGi |
 | Buzz Aldrin's Space Program Manager | older | $29.99 | 418 74% | 13k | $376k (exactly $376,075) | Polar Motion |
 | Crisis in the Kremlin: The Cold War | $7.99 | 698 80% | 21k | $167k (exactly $167,311) | Nostalgames | |
 | For the Fatherland: Chronicle of Park Chung-hee | $14.99 | 176 88% | 5.3k | $79k (exactly $79,147) | KMS STUDIO | |
 | Statecraft: Corrupted Democracy | $9.99 | 33 90% | 990 | $9.9k (exactly $9,890) | Engincan Çiçek, Bad Engine Studio | |
 | Femboy Streamer | $11.99 | 14 35% | 420 | $5.0k (exactly $5,036) | Pepperjak | |
 | 12 Months: Vietnam | $3.99 | 16 68% | 480 | $1.9k (exactly $1,915) | AlphaSixGames | |
 | Frontline: Afrika Korps | $14.99 | 3 100% | 90 | $1.3k (exactly $1,349) | Frontline: Games Series | |
 | Lunokhod | $4.99 | 8 87% | 240 | $1.2k (exactly $1,198) | Lunokhod Labs | |
 | The Syndicate: Classified Operations | $4.99 | 7 57% | 210 | $1.0k (exactly $1,048) | A and I Software | |
 | Government Contractors: Arms of Influence | · EA | $6.00 | 5 20% | 150 | $900 (exactly $900) | Dan K. |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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