Games › Combat Racing › Combat Racing + Destruction
Should I ship a Combat Racing Destruction game?
Combat Racing + Destruction
Of 32 developers who shipped a Combat Racing Destruction 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.. 58 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.5k, ×2.4 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $900k, ×1437 the market median. Revenue is down 35% on the market; 58 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $359 (exactly $359) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.5k (exactly $1,498) |
| Top 25% | $10k (exactly $10,190) |
| Top 5% | $902k (exactly $902,174) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 32 |
| Released games | 104 |
| Announced | 58 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 35% on the market, supply 90% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Combat Racing
- effort 6 / 10 · low · vehicle physics plus weapons and AI drivers
- Destruction
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Combat Racing, Destruction; 9 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Driving, Racing, Vehicular Combat
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $39.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Third Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $39.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 75% positive over 8,618 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $360. 8 in 10 of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 58 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Combat Racing with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + CollectathonFair
- + SandboxFair
- + PlatformerFair
- + RhythmFair
- + ParkourFair
- + RPGFair
- + 2D PlatformerLong shot
- + Beat 'em upLong shot
- + SurvivalPoor odds
- + Post-apocalypticPoor odds
- + DystopianPoor odds
- + Split ScreenPoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Need for Speed™ Heat | older | $69.99 | 128,933 84% | 3.9M | $271M (exactly $270,720,620) | Ghost Games |
| | Need for Speed™ | older | $29.99 | 25,443 69% | 763k | $23M (exactly $22,891,067) | Ghost Games |
| | Need for Speed™ Hot Pursuit Remastered | older | $29.99 | 13,583 81% | 407k | $12M (exactly $12,220,625) | Stellar Entertainment Limited |
| | Wreckfest 2 | · EA | $34.99 | 5,578 73% | 167k | $5.9M (exactly $5,855,227) | Bugbear |
| | FlatOut 2 | older | $9.99 | 19,466 95% | 584k | $5.8M (exactly $5,833,960) | Bugbear Entertainment, ZOOM Platform Me… (Bugbear Entertainment, ZOOM Platform Media, Jordan Freeman Group) |
| | Need for Speed™ Rivals | older | $19.99 | 9,265 76% | 278k | $5.6M (exactly $5,556,220) | Criterion Games |
| | Burnout™ Paradise Remastered | older | $19.99 | 7,348 64% | 220k | $4.4M (exactly $4,406,596) | Stellar Entertainment, Criterion Games |
| | FlatOut: Ultimate Carnage Collector's Edition | older | $19.99 | 6,747 89% | 202k | $4.0M (exactly $4,046,176) | Bugbear Entertainment, ZOOM Platform Me… (Bugbear Entertainment, ZOOM Platform Media, Jordan Freeman Group) |
| | Gas Guzzlers Extreme | older | $24.99 | 3,081 86% | 92k | $2.3M (exactly $2,309,826) | Gamepires |
| | TRAIL OUT | older | $19.99 | 3,019 81% | 91k | $1.8M (exactly $1,810,494) | GOOD BOYS |
| | Carmageddon: Rogue Shift | $39.99 | 752 62% | 23k | $902k (exactly $902,174) | 34BigThings srl | |
| | SimplePlanes 2 | · EA | $19.99 | 1,316 92% | 39k | $789k (exactly $789,205) | Jundroo, LLC |
| | Wreckreation | $39.99 | 360 63% | 11k | $432k (exactly $431,892) | Three Fields Entertainment | |
| | Warhammer 40,000: Speed Freeks | $19.99 | 493 85% | 15k | $296k (exactly $295,652) | Caged Element | |
| | Speed Demons 2 | $14.99 | 26 92% | 780 | $12k (exactly $11,692) | Radiangames | |
| | Big Mutha Truckers | $8.99 | 39 92% | 1.2k | $11k (exactly $10,518) | Eutechnyx | |
| | Chaos on Wheels | $9.99 | 34 67% | 1.0k | $10k (exactly $10,190) | Acodeon Development | |
| | Crafty Racer | · EA | $14.99 | 11 100% | 330 | $4.9k (exactly $4,947) | Peterclark |
| | Grind Rush | $15.99 | 9 66% | 270 | $4.3k (exactly $4,317) | AND GEAR |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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