Do I ship it?

Games › Space Sim › Space Sim + Combat

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Combat Space Sim?

Space Sim + Combat

Of 91 developers who shipped a Combat Space Sim 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.. 147 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $900, ×1.4 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $260k, ×424 the market median. Revenue is up 440% on the market; 147 games are announced against 59 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.4 times the market baseline, revenue up 440% on the market, 147 announced, ×2.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Space Sim + Combat
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 91
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $899 → $11k → $598 → $4.2k → $1.4k → $478 → $899 (still earning) → $1.2k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Space Sim + Combat: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 91
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $899 (exactly $899)
Top 25% $4.9k (exactly $4,908)
Top 5% $266k (exactly $266,267)
Developers, 2 yr 91
Released games 233
Announced 147
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $8.99

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 440% on the market, supply 80% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 15%, 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.

Space Sim
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Combat
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Space Sim, Combat; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Exploration, Simulation, Action
Price point
$8.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.

The top 10 games average 76% positive over 14,362 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 $4.9k, 1 in 20 over $260k.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. Nearly all of the 40 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 147 games are announced against 59 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + DestructionFair14 devs · median $3.7k · 22 announced
  2. + Female ProtagonistFair9 devs · median $3.6k · 12 announced
  3. + Tactical RPGFair9 devs · median $1.8k · 15 announced
  4. + WarFair34 devs · median $1.3k · 42 announced
  5. + Walking SimulatorFair16 devs · median $598 · 20 announced
  6. + SportsFair8 devs · median $479 · 9 announced
  7. + DiplomacyLong shot7 devs · median $360 · 14 announced
  8. + MilitaryPoor odds18 devs · median $6.3k · 39 announced
  9. + Online Co-OpPoor odds18 devs · median $4.9k · 63 announced
  10. + Strategy RPGPoor odds8 devs · median $4.9k · 21 announced
  11. + SandboxPoor odds86 devs · median $4.6k · 213 announced
  12. + Colony SimPoor odds42 devs · median $4.6k · 91 announced

All 114 pairs on the Space Sim page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Space Engineers 2019 · $60M Marauders 2022 · EA · $12M Star Trek: Voyager - Across the Unknown 2026 · $4.4M Starcom: Unknown Space 2024 · $3.3M Dune: Imperium 2024 · $2.6M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Space Engineers older $19.99 100,533 89% 3.0M $60M (exactly $60,289,640) Keen Software House
Marauders · EA older $29.99 13,505 68% 405k $12M (exactly $12,150,448) Small Impact Games
Star Trek: Voyager - Across the Unknown $34.99 4,162 79% 125k $4.4M (exactly $4,368,851) Gamexcite
Starcom: Unknown Space older $24.99 4,464 92% 134k $3.3M (exactly $3,346,661) Wx3 Labs, LLC
Dune: Imperium older $22.99 3,806 94% 114k $2.6M (exactly $2,624,998) Dire Wolf
Star Valor older $24.99 3,272 88% 98k $2.5M (exactly $2,453,018) Rafael Burgos
SpaceCraft · EA $29.99 2,616 64% 78k $2.4M (exactly $2,353,615) Shiro Games
Angels Fall First $17.99 3,835 81% 115k $2.1M (exactly $2,069,749) Strangely Interactive Ltd
The Last Starship $19.99 1,623 75% 49k $973k (exactly $973,313) Introversion Software
Rebel Galaxy Outlaw older $29.99 942 65% 28k $848k (exactly $847,517) Double Damage Games
Space Reign $19.99 444 72% 13k $266k (exactly $266,267) Propulsive Games
BattleGroupVR2 · EA $24.99 209 85% 6.3k $157k (exactly $156,687) SpaceOwl Games
Drifter Star: Evolution $3.99 1,165 73% 35k $139k (exactly $139,450) Kayla Studio
Jitter · EA $9.99 165 84% 5.0k $49k (exactly $49,450) Berko Games
Warspace 2 $17.99 83 59% 2.5k $45k (exactly $44,795) Magic Game Art
Stellar Wanderer DX $19.99 60 71% 1.8k $36k (exactly $35,982) Dream Builder Studios

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