Games › Combat › Combat + Western
Should I ship a Western Combat game?
Combat + Western
Of 59 developers who shipped a Western 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.. 78 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 $450, ×0.7 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $280k, ×451 the market median. Revenue is up 15% on the market; 78 games are announced against 34 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $150 (exactly $150) |
|---|---|
| Median | $449 (exactly $449) |
| Top 25% | $7.0k (exactly $7,016) |
| Top 5% | $283k (exactly $283,058) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 59 |
| Released games | 121 |
| Announced | 78 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $5.99 |
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 15% on the market, supply 35% 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.
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Combat; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Shooter, Action-Adventure
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Atmospheric, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 94% positive over 34,282 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 29 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 78 games are announced against 34 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Combat with a different setting or mood, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Far Far West | · EA | $19.99 | 31,458 95% | 944k | $19M (exactly $18,865,363) | Evil Raptor |
| | Hard West 2 | older | $29.99 | 2,717 80% | 82k | $2.4M (exactly $2,444,485) | Ice Code Games |
| | Mohrta | $19.99 | 1,482 91% | 44k | $889k (exactly $888,755) | Scumhead, Osiol | |
| | Soulslinger: Envoy of Death | $19.99 | 472 63% | 14k | $283k (exactly $283,058) | Elder Games | |
| | They Always Run | older | $9.99 | 770 78% | 23k | $231k (exactly $230,769) | Alawar |
| | Tombwater | $24.99 | 282 92% | 8.5k | $211k (exactly $211,415) | Moth Atlas | |
| | Bloodroots | older | $19.99 | 230 89% | 6.9k | $138k (exactly $137,931) | Paper Cult |
| | Bounty Star | $24.99 | 159 65% | 4.8k | $119k (exactly $119,202) | DINOGOD | |
| | PolyClassic: Wild | older | $13.99 | 213 76% | 6.4k | $89k (exactly $89,396) | Quacky Games |
| | Siege of Avalon: Anthology | older | $9.99 | 262 86% | 7.9k | $79k (exactly $78,521) | Digital Tome, General Arcade, Steffen N… (Digital Tome, General Arcade, Steffen Nyeland) |
| | Graveyard Gunslingers | $7.99 | 224 58% | 6.7k | $54k (exactly $53,693) | PyroPhysics | |
| | Frontier Legends | · EA | $29.99 | 57 40% | 1.7k | $51k (exactly $51,283) | Neojac Entertainment Inc. |
| | The Prisoning: Fletcher's Quest | $14.99 | 53 88% | 1.6k | $24k (exactly $23,834) | Elden Pixels | |
| | Rose and Locket | $11.99 | 54 92% | 1.6k | $19k (exactly $19,424) | Whistling Wizard | |
| | Saloonery | $9.99 | 41 97% | 1.2k | $12k (exactly $12,288) | Bow Tie Cat Studios |
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.