Do I ship it?

Games › Combat › Combat + Procedural Generation

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Combat Procedural Generation game?

Combat + Procedural Generation

Of 407 developers who shipped a Combat Procedural Generation 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.. 857 more are announced, ×3.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.3k, ×2.0 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $240; 1 in 20 cleared $340k, ×544 the market median. Revenue is up 50% on the market; 857 games are announced against 239 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.0 times the market baseline, revenue up 50% on the market, 857 announced, ×3.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Combat + Procedural Generation
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 407
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $839 → $2.6k → $2.9k → $1.0k → $2.2k → $1.5k → $1.7k (still earning) → $239 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Combat + Procedural Generation: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 407
Bottom 30% $240 (exactly $240)
Median $1.3k (exactly $1,258)
Top 25% $7.7k (exactly $7,670)
Top 5% $342k (exactly $341,726)
Developers, 2 yr 407
Released games 893
Announced 857
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $6.99

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 50% on the market, supply 40% 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.

Combat
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Procedural Generation
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Combat, Procedural Generation; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Roguelite, Roguelike
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 86% positive over 93,697 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $240, median $1.3k, 1 in 4 over $7.6k, 1 in 20 over $340k.

3 in 10 developers made under $240. 8 in 10 of the 186 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 857 games are announced against 239 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.6 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Combat with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Real-Time with PauseStrong odds14 devs · median $15k · 12 announced
  2. + 4XFair32 devs · median $3.8k · 48 announced
  3. + TypingFair20 devs · median $2.2k · 26 announced
  4. + VampiresFair54 devs · median $1.9k · 64 announced
  5. + SnowFair21 devs · median $1.2k · 24 announced
  6. + Walking SimulatorFair51 devs · median $599 · 61 announced
  7. + Match 3Long shot13 devs · median $359 · 16 announced
  8. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds32 devs · median $55k · 85 announced
  9. + Political SimPoor odds14 devs · median $49k · 22 announced
  10. + Extraction ShooterPoor odds21 devs · median $31k · 47 announced
  11. + Dating SimPoor odds23 devs · median $19k · 45 announced
  12. + LGBTQ+Poor odds52 devs · median $16k · 90 announced

All 248 pairs on the Combat page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Deep Rock Galactic 2020 · $273M Core Keeper 2024 · $30M Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor 2025 · $18M Dome Keeper 2022 · $10M Windblown 2024 · EA · $6.8M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Deep Rock Galactic older $29.99 303,142 97% 9.1M $273M (exactly $272,736,857) Ghost Ship Games
Core Keeper older $19.99 50,066 92% 1.5M $30M (exactly $30,024,580) Pugstorm
Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor $12.99 46,354 86% 1.4M $18M (exactly $18,064,154) Funday Games
Dome Keeper older $17.99 18,976 92% 569k $10M (exactly $10,241,347) Bippinbits
Windblown · EA $24.99 9,066 88% 272k $6.8M (exactly $6,796,780) Motion Twin
Sephiria $17.99 11,582 94% 347k $6.3M (exactly $6,250,805) TEAM HORAY
Len's Island $24.99 5,935 82% 178k $4.4M (exactly $4,449,470) Flow Studio
Distant Worlds 2 older $49.99 2,653 72% 80k $4.0M (exactly $3,978,704) CodeForce
Ember Knights older $19.99 6,065 93% 182k $3.6M (exactly $3,637,180) Doom Turtle
Heroes of Hammerwatch II $19.99 5,806 82% 174k $3.5M (exactly $3,481,858) Crackshell
Master of Command $29.99 3,840 92% 115k $3.5M (exactly $3,454,848) Armchair Interactive
Everwind · EA $24.99 3,454 81% 104k $2.6M (exactly $2,589,464) Enjoy Studio S.A.
VOID/BREAKER · EA $29.99 2,506 91% 75k $2.3M (exactly $2,254,648) Stubby Games
LORT · EA $14.99 3,933 77% 118k $1.8M (exactly $1,768,670) Big Distraction
KIBORG $24.99 1,221 84% 37k $915k (exactly $915,384) Sobaka Studio

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