Games › Strategy › Strategy + Conspiracy
Should I ship a Conspiracy Strategy game?
Strategy + Conspiracy
Of 51 developers who shipped a Conspiracy Strategy 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.. 130 more are announced, ×4.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $600, level with the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $120; 1 in 20 cleared $190k, ×306 the market median. Revenue is up 115% on the market; 130 games are announced against 28 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $119 (exactly $119) |
|---|---|
| Median | $599 (exactly $599) |
| Top 25% | $3.4k (exactly $3,409) |
| Top 5% | $192k (exactly $192,122) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 51 |
| Released games | 150 |
| Announced | 130 |
| 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 115% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 20%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Strategy
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Conspiracy
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Strategy; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, RPG, Strategy RPG
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, 2D, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 4,290 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $120. 9 in 10 of the 32 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 130 games are announced against 28 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.6 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Strategy with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + BaseballFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + WuxiaFair
- + FarmingFair
- + Martial ArtsFair
- + SubmarineFair
- + NavalFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Shop KeeperFair
- + HackingFair
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | SCP: 5K | · EA older | $19.99 | 12,334 80% | 370k | $7.4M (exactly $7,396,700) | Affray Interactive |
| | Terminator: Dark Fate - Defiance | older | $39.99 | 3,395 82% | 102k | $4.1M (exactly $4,072,982) | Slitherine Ltd. |
| | Eriksholm: The Stolen Dream | $39.99 | 2,451 95% | 74k | $2.9M (exactly $2,940,465) | River End Games | |
| | Solium Infernum | older | $39.99 | 1,571 88% | 47k | $1.9M (exactly $1,884,729) | League of Geeks |
| | Contradiction: Spot The Liar | older | $12.99 | 2,838 94% | 85k | $1.1M (exactly $1,105,969) | Baggy Cat Ltd. |
| | Shadows of Forbidden Gods | older | $19.99 | 1,046 91% | 31k | $627k (exactly $627,286) | Bobby Two Hands |
| | Rise Of The White Sun - 白日升 | older | $24.99 | 721 86% | 22k | $541k (exactly $540,534) | Maestro Cinetik |
| | Sigma Theory: Global Cold War | older | $17.99 | 892 77% | 27k | $481k (exactly $481,412) | Mi-Clos Studio, Goblinz Studio, FibreTi… (Mi-Clos Studio, Goblinz Studio, FibreTigre) |
| | Chains of Freedom | $24.99 | 520 80% | 16k | $390k (exactly $389,844) | Nordcurrent | |
| | The Fabulous Fear Machine | older | $17.99 | 542 89% | 16k | $293k (exactly $292,517) | Fictiorama Studios |
| | 侠落:百花杀尽 | $12.99 | 493 70% | 15k | $192k (exactly $192,122) | 上海江湖逸客信息技术有限公司 | |
| | Prime Monster | $19.99 | 308 83% | 9.2k | $185k (exactly $184,708) | Cavalier Game Studios | |
| | Black Gold - Shining Town | $13.99 | 255 80% | 7.7k | $107k (exactly $107,024) | Morexingame | |
| | Troublemaker 2: Beyond Dream | $24.99 | 142 95% | 4.3k | $106k (exactly $106,457) | Gamecom Team | |
| | Statecraft: Corrupted Democracy | $9.99 | 33 90% | 990 | $9.9k (exactly $9,890) | Engincan Çiçek, Bad Engine Studio | |
| | Cult Leader Simulator | $17.99 | 16 50% | 480 | $8.6k (exactly $8,635) | Nhneno | |
| | Blackdoor | $12.99 | 20 85% | 600 | $7.8k (exactly $7,794) | Static Signal | |
| | diffiCULT | · EA | $4.99 | 52 94% | 1.6k | $7.8k (exactly $7,784) | Ouz Games |
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.