Games › Sandbox › Sandbox + Cold War
Should I ship a Cold-War Sandbox?
Sandbox + Cold War
Only 9 developers shipped a Cold-War Sandbox 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, Sea Power : Naval Combat in the Missile Age, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 22 more are announced, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $19k, ×31 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $15k; 1 in 20 cleared $9.1M, ×14589 the market median. Momentum is unreadable here, too few recent games; 22 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year.
not enough cohorts to draw
| Bottom 30% | $15k (exactly $14,994) |
|---|---|
| Median | $19k (exactly $19,424) |
| Top 25% | $39k (exactly $39,141) |
| Top 5% | $9.2M (exactly $9,161,667) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 9 |
| Released games | 32 |
| Announced | 22 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $12.99 |
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 too few recent games to read momentum, supply 250% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 19%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Sandbox
- Price point
- $12.99 typical
Why players buy here
Fewer than 10 games in the last 2 years; sentiment and price figures use the all window.
The top 25% priced at $39.99 or above; the middle game at $11.99.
The top 10 games average 84% positive over 100,751 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $15k. 22 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Sandbox with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FightingStrong odds
- + Turn-BasedFair
- + World War IIFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + ProgrammingFair
- + CatsFair
- + SportsFair
- + GamblingFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + Combat RacingFair
- + Trading Card GameFair
- + IdlerFair
Comparable games
Arma Reforger 2023 · $62M 
Sea Power : Naval Combat in the Missile Age 2024 · EA · $9.2M 
METAL GEAR SOLID V: GROUND ZEROES 2014 · $8.1M 
Sprocket 2021 · EA · $7.4M 
Tropico 4 2011 · $3.7M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Arma Reforger | older | $39.99 | 51,613 80% | 1.5M | $62M (exactly $61,920,116) | Bohemia Interactive |
| | Sea Power : Naval Combat in the Missile Age | · EA | $49.99 | 6,109 90% | 183k | $9.2M (exactly $9,161,667) | Triassic Games |
| | METAL GEAR SOLID V: GROUND ZEROES | older | $19.99 | 13,535 84% | 406k | $8.1M (exactly $8,116,939) | KONAMI |
| | Sprocket | · EA older | $19.99 | 12,336 92% | 370k | $7.4M (exactly $7,397,899) | Hamish Dunn |
| | Tropico 4 | older | $14.99 | 8,211 91% | 246k | $3.7M (exactly $3,692,487) | Haemimont Games |
 | Arms Trade Tycoon: Tanks | · EA older | $29.99 | 1,000 65% | 30k | $900k (exactly $899,700) | FunGi |
 | IL-2 Sturmovik: 1946 | older | $9.99 | 2,653 88% | 80k | $795k (exactly $795,104) | 1C: Maddox Games |
 | Arma: Cold War Assault Remastered | older | $9.99 | 2,402 89% | 72k | $720k (exactly $719,879) | Bohemia Interactive, Josef Šimánek (ret… (Bohemia Interactive, Josef Šimánek (retro)) |
 | Supreme Ruler Ultimate | older | $19.99 | 1,169 77% | 35k | $701k (exactly $701,049) | BattleGoat Studios |
 | Darkest Hour: A Hearts of Iron Game | older | $9.99 | 1,723 90% | 52k | $516k (exactly $516,383) | Martin Ivanov |
 | Maestro's Cold War 2 | $12.99 | 170 92% | 5.1k | $66k (exactly $66,249) | Maestro Cinetik | |
 | BURNED HORIZONS | · EA | $44.99 | 29 34% | 870 | $39k (exactly $39,141) | BURNED HORIZONS STUDIO |
 | Nuclear Design Bureau | · EA | $9.99 | 88 79% | 2.6k | $26k (exactly $26,374) | Design Bureau KB-11 |
 | SALVO | $11.99 | 54 77% | 1.6k | $19k (exactly $19,424) | Erdem Şahin, Naim Ozcan | |
 | Red Tears: Angola | · EA | $14.99 | 39 84% | 1.2k | $18k (exactly $17,538) | Arun Haines |
 | SkyChart: Airline Executive | · EA | $24.99 | 20 75% | 600 | $15k (exactly $14,994) | Casey Jones Labs |
 | World War Forex | · EA | $12.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $390 (exactly $390) | Leobot Electronics, Leon Botha, INESSOFT |
 | Terra Lapsa: After Ragnarök | $9.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | PalotásForge |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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