Games › Combat Racing › Combat Racing + Split Screen
Should I ship a Split Screen Combat Racing game?
Combat Racing + Split Screen
Of 44 developers who shipped a Split Screen Combat Racing 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.. 57 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.4k, ×3.8 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.1k; 1 in 20 cleared $930k, ×1494 the market median. Revenue is down 10% on the market; 57 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.1k (exactly $1,078) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.4k (exactly $2,399) |
| Top 25% | $34k (exactly $34,166) |
| Top 5% | $938k (exactly $938,387) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 44 |
| Released games | 123 |
| Announced | 57 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $10.99 |
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 10% on the market, supply 10% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 12%, 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
- Split Screen
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Combat Racing, Split Screen; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry PvP, Racing, Arcade
- Price point
- $10.99 typical · top 25% priced $39.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Colorful, Family Friendly
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $39.99 or above; the middle game at $10.99.
The top 10 games average 90% positive over 15,142 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.1k. 8 in 10 of the 24 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 57 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 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
- + Local MultiplayerPoor odds
Comparable games
Need for Speed™ Heat 2020 · $271M 
Need for Speed™ Unbound 2022 · $105M 
Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds 2025 · $24M 
Need for Speed™ 2020 · $23M 
Need for Speed™ Most Wanted 2020 · $15M | 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™ Unbound | older | $69.99 | 49,862 61% | 1.5M | $105M (exactly $104,695,241) | Criterion Games |
| | Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds | $69.99 | 11,479 93% | 344k | $24M (exactly $24,102,456) | Sonic Team | |
| | Need for Speed™ | older | $29.99 | 25,443 69% | 763k | $23M (exactly $22,891,067) | Ghost Games |
| | Need for Speed™ Most Wanted | older | $19.99 | 25,197 77% | 756k | $15M (exactly $15,110,641) | Criterion Games |
 | 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 |
 | GRIP: Combat Racing | older | $29.99 | 3,669 86% | 110k | $3.3M (exactly $3,300,999) | Caged Element |
 | Screamer | $59.99 | 1,039 80% | 31k | $1.9M (exactly $1,869,888) | Milestone S.r.l. | |
 | BallisticNG | older | $14.99 | 2,285 95% | 69k | $1.0M (exactly $1,027,564) | Neognosis |
 | The Karters 2: Turbo Charged | · EA | $29.99 | 1,043 91% | 31k | $938k (exactly $938,387) | Pixel Edge Games |
 | Wreckreation | $39.99 | 360 63% | 11k | $432k (exactly $431,892) | Three Fields Entertainment | |
 | Victory Heat Rally | $19.99 | 599 88% | 18k | $359k (exactly $359,220) | Skydevilpalm | |
 | Garfield Kart 2 - All You Can Drift | $24.99 | 216 45% | 6.5k | $162k (exactly $161,935) | Eden Games | |
 | TRANSFORMERS: Galactic Trials | $39.99 | 93 78% | 2.8k | $112k (exactly $111,572) | 3DClouds | |
 | Slip & Skid | $12.99 | 141 97% | 4.2k | $55k (exactly $54,948) | NHOGS Interactive | |
 | Moorhuhn Kart 4 | $19.99 | 90 86% | 2.7k | $54k (exactly $53,973) | Korion Interactive | |
 | Slopecrashers | $17.99 | 82 93% | 2.5k | $44k (exactly $44,255) | byteparrot |
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.