Do I ship it?

Games › Combat › Combat + Science

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Science Combat game?

Combat + Science

Of 32 developers who shipped a Science 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.. 44 more are announced, ×2.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $900, ×1.4 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $970k, ×1550 the market median. Revenue is down 10% on the market; 44 games are announced against 19 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.4 times the market baseline, revenue down 10% on the market, 44 announced, ×2.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Combat + Science
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 32
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $599 → $5.2k → $31k → $1.2k → $628 → $2.9k (still earning) → $719 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Combat + Science: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 32
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $900 (exactly $900)
Top 25% $8.1k (exactly $8,092)
Top 5% $973k (exactly $973,313)
Developers, 2 yr 32
Released games 88
Announced 44
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 down 10% on the market, supply 45% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 17%, 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
Science
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Combat; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Strategy
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Realistic
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 80% positive over 4,086 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $150, median $900, 1 in 4 over $8.0k, 1 in 20 over $970k.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 17 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 44 games are announced against 19 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.3 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Combat with a different setting or mood, 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

METAL EDEN 2025 · $1.2M The Last Starship 2026 · $973k RIPOUT 2024 · $470k Nature & Life - Drunk On Nectar 2025 · $118k Crawling Lab 2024 · $107k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
METAL EDEN $19.99 1,920 84% 58k $1.2M (exactly $1,151,424) Reikon Games
The Last Starship $19.99 1,623 75% 49k $973k (exactly $973,313) Introversion Software
RIPOUT older $19.99 783 65% 23k $470k (exactly $469,565) Pet Project Games
Nature & Life - Drunk On Nectar $14.99 263 87% 7.9k $118k (exactly $118,271) Venugopalan Sreedharan
Crawling Lab older $4.99 713 83% 21k $107k (exactly $106,736) eTIRUe
Sus Virus Amogus older $39.99 51 82% 1.5k $61k (exactly $61,185) Galactic Geckon
Nimbus INFINITY older $14.99 112 50% 3.4k $50k (exactly $50,366) GameCrafterTeam, GameTomo Co., Ltd.
Genotype older $24.99 42 90% 1.3k $31k (exactly $31,487) Bolverk VR Games
Evolve Lab · EA $14.99 69 94% 2.1k $31k (exactly $31,029) SiRen Games
My Mad Scientist Roommate Turned Me Into Her Personal Robotic Battle Maiden?!? older $29.99 32 90% 960 $29k (exactly $28,790) Lached Up Games
Periapsis: Eclipse · EA $14.99 53 71% 1.6k $24k (exactly $23,834) Skytrellis Games
Stellar Reach $19.99 34 79% 1.0k $20k (exactly $20,390) Stelleas
Oxide Room 208 $29.99 22 31% 660 $20k (exactly $19,793) WildSphere
Brotherhood $9.99 27 96% 810 $8.1k (exactly $8,092) FatCatGames
COLLAPSE COMPANY · EA $8.99 28 89% 840 $7.6k (exactly $7,552) VOLT-TECKS GAME STUDIO
Hotloop $2.99 47 85% 1.4k $4.2k (exactly $4,216) Tntlaxy GDS

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