Do I ship it?

Games › Flight › Flight + Combat

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Combat Flight game?

Flight + Combat

Of 156 developers who shipped a Combat Flight 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.. 257 more are announced, ×2.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $360 in the last 2 years and $480 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 6 / 10 build. 88 developers shipped in the last year and 257 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.6 times the market baseline, revenue up 55% on the market, 257 announced, ×2.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Flight + Combat
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 156
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $779 → $4.0k → $809 → $240 → $716 → $359 → $359 (still earning) → $449 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Flight + Combat: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 156
Bottom 30% $89 (exactly $89)
Median $359 (exactly $359)
Top 25% $2.1k (exactly $2,098)
Top 5% $220k (exactly $220,475)
Developers, 2 yr 156
Released games 488
Announced 257
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $5.99

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 55% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 11%, 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
Combat
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, Combat; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Simulation, Shooter
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Realistic, Third Person
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 82% positive over 16,781 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $89, median $360, 1 in 4 over $2.0k, 1 in 20 over $220k.

3 in 10 developers made under $89. 9 in 10 of the 80 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 257 games are announced against 88 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Flight with a different second tag, 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. + Cold WarPoor odds10 devs · median $11k · 16 announced

All 132 pairs on the Flight page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

EVERSPACE™ 2 2023 · $18M VTOL VR 2017 · $18M Jump Space 2025 · EA · $6.4M Aerofly FS 4 Flight Simulator 2022 · $2.5M FPV Kamikaze Drone 2023 · EA · $2.2M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
EVERSPACE™ 2 older $49.99 12,040 85% 361k $18M (exactly $18,056,388) ROCKFISH Games
VTOL VR older $29.99 19,885 98% 597k $18M (exactly $17,890,534) Boundless Dynamics, LLC
Jump Space · EA $19.99 10,724 85% 322k $6.4M (exactly $6,431,183) Keepsake Games
Aerofly FS 4 Flight Simulator older $59.99 1,400 89% 42k $2.5M (exactly $2,519,580) IPACS
FPV Kamikaze Drone · EA older $5.99 12,192 86% 366k $2.2M (exactly $2,190,902) HFM Games
轮回修仙路 older $16.99 2,945 82% 88k $1.5M (exactly $1,501,066) 烟水寒工作室
Aces of Thunder $29.99 1,159 57% 35k $1.0M (exactly $1,042,752) Gaijin Entertainment
Tiny Combat Arena · EA older $19.99 1,511 81% 45k $906k (exactly $906,147) Why485, MicroProse Software
Rebel Galaxy Outlaw older $29.99 942 65% 28k $848k (exactly $847,517) Double Damage Games
Vietnam War · EA $14.99 1,704 84% 51k $766k (exactly $766,289) Thorium Game Lab
Ukrainian Fight Drone Simulator (UFDS) - FPV drone simulator $29.99 800 80% 24k $720k (exactly $719,760) SIMTECH SOLUTIONS
Echoes of Elysium · EA $19.99 506 61% 15k $303k (exactly $303,448) Loric Games, Inc.
Firehawk: FPV Drone Shooter $19.99 494 91% 15k $296k (exactly $296,252) TruePlayers
G-Rebels · EA $29.99 254 79% 7.6k $229k (exactly $228,524) Reakktor Studios
Air Defender · EA $20.19 364 78% 11k $220k (exactly $220,475) ROTOR3
Scramble: Battle of Britain · EA $29.99 209 88% 6.3k $188k (exactly $188,037) Slitherine Ltd.
Metal Thunder · EA $10.99 567 76% 17k $187k (exactly $186,940) Dumbbell Games

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