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Should I ship a Combat Time Manipulation game?
Combat + Time Manipulation
Of 39 developers who shipped a Combat Time Manipulation 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.. 88 more are announced, ×4.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $750, ×1.2 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $210; 1 in 20 cleared $170k, ×286 the market median. Revenue is up 200% on the market; 88 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $210 (exactly $210) |
|---|---|
| Median | $748 (exactly $748) |
| Top 25% | $4.7k (exactly $4,676) |
| Top 5% | $180k (exactly $179,910) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 39 |
| Released games | 106 |
| Announced | 88 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 200% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, 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
- Time Manipulation
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Combat, Time Manipulation; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Action-Adventure
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Third Person, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 1,321 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $210. 9 in 10 of the 21 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 88 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.2 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
SUPERHOT VR 2017 · $6.0M 
The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak II 2025 · $1.2M 
CONVERGENCE: A League of Legends Story™ 2023 · $943k 
Advent NEON® 2025 · $180k 
Magic Research 2 2024 · $110k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | SUPERHOT VR | older | $24.99 | 7,978 82% | 239k | $6.0M (exactly $5,981,107) | SUPERHOT Team |
| | The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak II | $59.99 | 669 83% | 20k | $1.2M (exactly $1,203,999) | Nihon Falcom, PH3 GmbH | |
| | CONVERGENCE: A League of Legends Story™ | older | $29.99 | 1,048 87% | 31k | $943k (exactly $942,886) | Double Stallion |
| | Advent NEON® | $19.99 | 300 98% | 9.0k | $180k (exactly $179,910) | CryoGX | |
| | Magic Research 2 | older | $5.99 | 610 92% | 18k | $110k (exactly $109,617) | Maticolotto |
 | Lysfanga: The Time Shift Warrior | older | $19.99 | 155 73% | 4.7k | $93k (exactly $92,954) | Sand Door Studio |
 | Titans of the Past | $24.99 | 108 83% | 3.2k | $81k (exactly $80,968) | Devil's Dozen Games | |
 | XEL | older | $14.99 | 143 48% | 4.3k | $64k (exactly $64,307) | Tiny Roar |
 | Magic Research | older | $4.99 | 410 90% | 12k | $61k (exactly $61,377) | Maticolotto |
 | District Steel | · EA older | $24.99 | 76 93% | 2.3k | $57k (exactly $56,977) | Barricade Studio |
 | Otherskin | $29.99 | 63 69% | 1.9k | $57k (exactly $56,681) | Game Atelier | |
 | Mai: Child of Ages | $14.99 | 34 88% | 1.0k | $15k (exactly $15,290) | Chubby Pixel | |
 | Shadows of Soldiers | $9.99 | 45 75% | 1.4k | $13k (exactly $13,486) | Ghost in the Wire | |
 | Temporal Titans | · EA | $9.99 | 44 95% | 1.3k | $13k (exactly $13,187) | Lost Tower Games |
 | SPEEDSHOT | $14.99 | 27 100% | 810 | $12k (exactly $12,142) | karmacode | |
 | Panta Rhei - Guardian of Time | $9.99 | 18 94% | 540 | $5.4k (exactly $5,395) | Sappalot Studio, Omme Animation, Nordic… (Sappalot Studio, Omme Animation, Nordic Scoring) | |
 | HexWind | $11.99 | 13 100% | 390 | $4.7k (exactly $4,676) | Charm Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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