Games › Combat › Combat + Programming
Should I ship a Combat Programming game?
Combat + Programming
Only 10 developers shipped a Combat Programming game 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, Talented, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 19 more are announced, ×3.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $14k, ×22 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $50; 1 in 20 cleared $260k, ×422 the market median. Revenue is down 100% on the market; 19 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year.
not enough cohorts to draw
| Bottom 30% | $0 (exactly $0) |
|---|---|
| Median | $14k (exactly $13,786) |
| Top 25% | $48k (exactly $47,952) |
| Top 5% | $265k (exactly $265,058) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 10 |
| Released games | 36 |
| Announced | 19 |
| 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 50% 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.
- Combat
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Programming
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Combat, Programming
- Price point
- $9.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 5 games average 89% positive over 2,561 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $50. 7 in 10 of the 6 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 19 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Combat with a different second tag, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Talented | $5.99 | 1,475 91% | 44k | $265k (exactly $265,058) | TurtleFox Games | |
| | Autonauts vs Piratebots | older | $19.99 | 334 80% | 10k | $200k (exactly $200,300) | Denki |
| | Auto Rogue | $6.99 | 719 91% | 22k | $151k (exactly $150,774) | 定期的な宝物 | |
| | Age Of Warbots | $9.99 | 160 83% | 4.8k | $48k (exactly $47,952) | VDimension | |
| | Nurose | · EA older | $9.99 | 90 87% | 2.7k | $27k (exactly $26,973) | Orongto |
| | Project Astra Dominium | older | $9.99 | 69 88% | 2.1k | $21k (exactly $20,679) | Snob Entertainment UG |
| | UNHUMAN | $3.99 | 161 73% | 4.8k | $19k (exactly $19,272) | Kinda Lowkey Games | |
| | Echoes of the Architects | $9.99 | 46 80% | 1.4k | $14k (exactly $13,786) | GFX47 | |
| | UNFAIR | older | $9.99 | 21 100% | 630 | $6.3k (exactly $6,294) | SOLIDS Studio |
| | Hacker Man | older | $19.99 | 8 12% | 240 | $4.8k (exactly $4,798) | GamesBraz |
| | Bounty Hunters | · EA | $5.00 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | AntiCodec |
| | Glitch Hero | $11.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | Didactoons | |
| | 着色 Project_Shading 技术演示demo | $5.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | 虚幻将会主宰世界 | |
| | Project CyberSky | $11.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | Xcogames LLC | |
| | Worldforge : Construct & Destroy | · EA | $9.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | peacedeveloper |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.