Games › Combat › Combat + Hacking
Should I ship a Hacking Combat game?
Combat + Hacking
Of 24 developers who shipped a Hacking Combat 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.. 42 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 $450, ×0.7 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $50; 1 in 20 cleared $51k, ×82 the market median. Revenue is down 100% on the market; 42 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $0 (exactly $0) |
|---|---|
| Median | $449 (exactly $449) |
| Top 25% | $4.8k (exactly $4,794) |
| Top 5% | $51k (exactly $51,249) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 24 |
| Released games | 68 |
| Announced | 42 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 15% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 24%, 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
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Combat; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Shooter
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, Top-Down
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 69% positive over 441 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $50. 9 in 10 of the 15 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 42 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Combat with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Real-Time with PauseStrong odds
- + 4XFair
- + TypingFair
- + VampiresFair
- + SnowFair
- + Walking SimulatorFair
- + Match 3Long shot
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + Political SimPoor odds
- + Extraction ShooterPoor odds
- + Dating SimPoor odds
- + LGBTQ+Poor odds
Comparable games
SPRAWL 2023 · $882k 
USAC: Code Breach 2022 · $480k 
LIBERATED 2020 · $407k 
STRIDE: Fates 2024 · $134k 
Glitchpunk 2024 · $104k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | SPRAWL | older | $14.99 | 1,961 87% | 59k | $882k (exactly $881,862) | MAETH |
| | USAC: Code Breach | older | $14.99 | 1,067 91% | 32k | $480k (exactly $479,830) | Questions Factory |
| | LIBERATED | older | $19.99 | 679 77% | 20k | $407k (exactly $407,196) | Atomic Wolf, L.INC |
| | STRIDE: Fates | older | $29.99 | 149 51% | 4.5k | $134k (exactly $134,055) | Joy Way |
| | Glitchpunk | $19.99 | 174 47% | 5.2k | $104k (exactly $104,348) | Dark Lord | |
 | Recompile | older | $19.99 | 145 67% | 4.4k | $87k (exactly $86,956) | Phigames |
 | Decision Legacy Collection | $9.99 | 171 83% | 5.1k | $51k (exactly $51,249) | FlyAnvil | |
 | Rendezvous | older | $12.99 | 38 78% | 1.1k | $15k (exactly $14,809) | Pendopo Creations |
 | Veiled Edge | · EA | $14.99 | 21 95% | 630 | $9.4k (exactly $9,444) | ONW Studio Inc, |
 | Project Chameleon | $9.99 | 19 100% | 570 | $5.7k (exactly $5,694) | Anonymous King | |
 | OveRRooT | older | $9.99 | 19 100% | 570 | $5.7k (exactly $5,694) | Hexagony |
 | DeadWire | $9.99 | 18 100% | 540 | $5.4k (exactly $5,395) | Shotgun Anaconda | |
 | Dicey Hacker 1999 | $7.99 | 20 75% | 600 | $4.8k (exactly $4,794) | HuanMos Game | |
 | Limb Chopper | $9.99 | 6 16% | 180 | $1.8k (exactly $1,798) | Jade Pixel Games | |
 | RoboSamurai | $11.99 | 3 33% | 90 | $1.1k (exactly $1,079) | metapika | |
 | Botomy | $14.99 | 2 100% | 60 | $899 (exactly $899) | Brokkli Labs LLC | |
 | Backrooms: The Yellow Dream | $2.99 | 7 71% | 210 | $628 (exactly $628) | Crow Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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