Do I ship it?

Games › Combat › Combat + Spaceships

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Spaceship Combat game?

Combat + Spaceships

Of 31 developers who shipped a Spaceship 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.. 23 more are announced.

Verdict: dead, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $150 in the last 2 years and $270 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 5 / 10 build. 25 developers shipped in the last year and 23 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.2 times the market baseline, revenue up 80% on the market, 23 announced, ×0.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Combat + Spaceships
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 31
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $31k → $539 → $1.5k → $33k → $30 (still earning) → $599 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Combat + Spaceships: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 31
Bottom 30% $30 (exactly $30)
Median $150 (exactly $150)
Top 25% $1.8k (exactly $1,798)
Top 5% $157k (exactly $156,687)
Developers, 2 yr 31
Released games 67
Announced 23
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 80% on the market, supply 255% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 6%, 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
Spaceships
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 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; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Exploration, Shooter
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 85% positive over 11,140 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $50, median $150, 1 in 4 over $1.7k, 1 in 20 over $150k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. All of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 23 games are announced against 25 developers who shipped in the last year.

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

Jump Space 2025 · EA · $6.4M Star Valor 2022 · $2.5M BattleGroupVR2 2025 · EA · $157k Descent: FreeSpace – The Great War 2014 · $140k Out of Orbit 2023 · EA · $75k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Jump Space · EA $19.99 10,724 85% 322k $6.4M (exactly $6,431,183) Keepsake Games
Star Valor older $24.99 3,272 88% 98k $2.5M (exactly $2,453,018) Rafael Burgos
BattleGroupVR2 · EA $24.99 209 85% 6.3k $157k (exactly $156,687) SpaceOwl Games
Descent: FreeSpace – The Great War older $19.99 234 77% 7.0k $140k (exactly $140,330) Volition Inc.
Out of Orbit · EA older $14.99 166 79% 5.0k $75k (exactly $74,650) Case Yellow Labs
HELL GALAXY $24.99 89 74% 2.7k $67k (exactly $66,723) Italian Games Factory
Command Deck · EA $14.99 74 98% 2.2k $33k (exactly $33,278) k-critical
Ghost Signal: A Stellaris Game older $9.99 104 93% 3.1k $31k (exactly $31,169) Windswept Interactive, Fast Travel Games
To the Stars older $14.99 45 88% 1.4k $20k (exactly $20,236) Stellar Cartography Interactive
Absolute Territory older $9.99 26 61% 780 $7.8k (exactly $7,792) Digitum Software
A-Spec First Assault $14.99 9 55% 270 $4.0k (exactly $4,047) Digitum Software
Seven Suns of Orion $4.99 22 100% 660 $3.3k (exactly $3,293) FerroFerrous
Hired Stars · EA $19.99 3 66% 90 $1.8k (exactly $1,799) Mark Kaps
Space Defender · EA $9.99 6 100% 180 $1.8k (exactly $1,798) Petit Vaisseau
Starship Fighters: Space Combat Simulator · EA $24.99 2 0% 60 $1.5k (exactly $1,499) Hard Shark Games
Infinite Empire · EA $14.99 2 100% 60 $899 (exactly $899) Better Tools LLC

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