Games › Combat › Combat + Historical
Should I ship a Historical Combat game?
Combat + Historical
Of 177 developers who shipped a Historical 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.. 334 more are announced, ×3.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $4.8k, ×7.6 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $990; 1 in 20 cleared $3.4M, ×5501 the market median. Revenue is up 45% on the market; 334 games are announced against 97 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $987 (exactly $987) |
|---|---|
| Median | $4.8k (exactly $4,794) |
| Top 25% | $52k (exactly $52,043) |
| Top 5% | $3.5M (exactly $3,454,848) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 177 |
| Released games | 528 |
| Announced | 334 |
| 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 up 45% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Combat
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Historical
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Combat; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Action, Simulation
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Realistic
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 84% positive over 291,461 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $990. 7 in 10 of the 99 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 334 games are announced against 97 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.4 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
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Battlefield™ V | older | $49.99 | 236,709 70% | 7.1M | $355M (exactly $354,992,487) | DICE |
| | Kingdom Come: Deliverance II | $59.99 | 144,558 93% | 4.3M | $260M (exactly $260,161,033) | Warhorse Studios | |
| | Ghost of Tsushima DIRECTOR'S CUT | older | $59.99 | 64,591 93% | 1.9M | $116M (exactly $116,244,423) | Sucker Punch Productions, Nixxes Softwa… (Sucker Punch Productions, Nixxes Software) |
| | Assassin’s Creed Shadows | $69.99 | 34,953 75% | 1.0M | $73M (exactly $73,390,814) | Ubisoft Quebec, Ubisoft Belgrade, Ubiso… (Ubisoft Quebec, Ubisoft Belgrade, Ubisoft Bordeaux, Ubisoft Bucharest & Craiova, Ubisoft Chengdu, Ubisoft Montpellier, Ubisoft Montreal, Ubisoft Osaka, Ubisoft Philippines, Ubisoft Shanghai, Ubisoft Singapore, Ubisoft Sofia, Ubisoft Ukraine) | |
| | Chivalry 2 | older | $39.99 | 46,707 79% | 1.4M | $56M (exactly $56,034,388) | Torn Banner Studios |
| | Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced | $59.99 | 26,652 81% | 800k | $48M (exactly $47,965,604) | Ubisoft Singapore, Ubisoft Barcelona, U… (Ubisoft Singapore, Ubisoft Barcelona, Ubisoft Bordeaux, Ubisoft Belgrade, Ubisoft Chengdu, Ubisoft India, Ubisoft Kyiv, Ubisoft Montpellier, Ubisoft Philippines, Ubisoft Quebec, Ubisoft Shanghai, Ubisoft Montreal, Ubisoft Romania) | |
| | Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition | older | $34.99 | 37,093 84% | 1.1M | $39M (exactly $38,936,522) | World's Edge, Tantalus Media, Forgotten… (World's Edge, Tantalus Media, Forgotten Empires) |
| | The Blood of Dawnwalker | $69.99 | 15,789 86% | 474k | $33M (exactly $33,152,163) | Rebel Wolves | |
| | Mafia: The Old Country | $49.99 | 20,909 71% | 627k | $31M (exactly $31,357,227) | Hangar 13 | |
| | Half Sword | · EA | $24.99 | 28,656 71% | 860k | $21M (exactly $21,483,403) | Half Sword Games |
| | Hell Let Loose: Vietnam | $39.99 | 10,702 61% | 321k | $13M (exactly $12,839,189) | Expression Games | |
| | Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy | $49.99 | 3,558 92% | 107k | $5.3M (exactly $5,335,933) | Asobo Studio | |
| | Master of Command | $29.99 | 3,840 92% | 115k | $3.5M (exactly $3,454,848) | Armchair Interactive | |
| | Commandos: Origins | $49.99 | 1,844 79% | 55k | $2.8M (exactly $2,765,447) | Claymore Game Studios |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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