Games › Grand Strategy › Grand Strategy + Dark Fantasy
Should I ship a Dark-Fantasy Grand Strategy?
Grand Strategy + Dark Fantasy
Only 11 developers shipped a Dark-Fantasy Grand Strategy in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Elemental: Reforged, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 29 more are announced, ×5.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.3k, ×0.8 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $210; 1 in 20 cleared $430k, ×287 the market median. Revenue is up 3490% on the market; 29 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $210 (exactly $210) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.3k (exactly $1,258) |
| Top 25% | $9.0k (exactly $8,991) |
| Top 5% | $430k (exactly $430,057) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 11 |
| Released games | 36 |
| Announced | 29 |
| Effort | 7 / 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 up 3490% on the market, supply 30% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 3%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Grand Strategy
- effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
- Dark Fantasy
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Grand Strategy
- Price point
- $9.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 10 games average 73% positive over 578 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $210. All of the 8 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 29 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Grand Strategy with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + RoguelikeFair
- + SportsFair
- + RogueliteFair
- + CrimeFair
- + RacingFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceLong shot
- + TabletopLong shot
- + Turn-BasedPoor odds
- + SandboxPoor odds
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
- + DiplomacyPoor odds
Comparable games
Total War: WARHAMMER III 2022 · $189M 
Total War: WARHAMMER II 2017 · $153M 
Total War: WARHAMMER 2016 · $58M 
Age of Wonders 4 2023 · $25M 
SpellForce: Conquest of Eo 2023 · $1.9M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Total War: WARHAMMER III | older | $59.99 | 104,822 71% | 3.1M | $189M (exactly $188,648,153) | CREATIVE ASSEMBLY, Feral Interactive |
| | Total War: WARHAMMER II | older | $59.99 | 85,134 92% | 2.6M | $153M (exactly $153,215,660) | CREATIVE ASSEMBLY, Feral Interactive (M… (CREATIVE ASSEMBLY, Feral Interactive (Mac), Feral Interactive (Linux)) |
| | Total War: WARHAMMER | older | $59.99 | 32,105 79% | 963k | $58M (exactly $57,779,368) | CREATIVE ASSEMBLY, Feral Interactive (L… (CREATIVE ASSEMBLY, Feral Interactive (Linux), Feral Interactive (Mac)) |
| | Age of Wonders 4 | older | $49.99 | 16,899 82% | 507k | $25M (exactly $25,343,430) | Triumph Studios |
| | SpellForce: Conquest of Eo | older | $29.99 | 2,149 80% | 64k | $1.9M (exactly $1,933,455) | Owned by Gravity |
 | Solium Infernum | older | $39.99 | 1,571 88% | 47k | $1.9M (exactly $1,884,729) | League of Geeks |
 | Fantasy General II | older | $39.99 | 1,034 82% | 31k | $1.2M (exactly $1,240,490) | Owned by Gravity |
 | Master of Magic | older | $39.99 | 1,023 71% | 31k | $1.2M (exactly $1,227,293) | MuHa Games, Eerie Forest Studio |
 | A Game of Thrones: The Board Game - Digital Edition | older | $19.99 | 1,705 71% | 51k | $1.0M (exactly $1,022,488) | Dire Wolf |
 | Shadows of Forbidden Gods | older | $19.99 | 1,046 91% | 31k | $627k (exactly $627,286) | Bobby Two Hands |
 | Elemental: Reforged | $29.99 | 478 73% | 14k | $430k (exactly $430,057) | Stardock Entertainment | |
 | Silent Slayer: Vault of the Vampire | $19.99 | 41 70% | 1.2k | $25k (exactly $24,588) | Schell Games | |
 | The HELL | · EA | $9.99 | 30 73% | 900 | $9.0k (exactly $8,991) | METROPOLICE |
 | Ironblood | · EA | $19.99 | 7 71% | 210 | $4.2k (exactly $4,198) | Jack Wilds |
 | Maniac Path 4 | $9.99 | 11 100% | 330 | $3.3k (exactly $3,297) | Gamesforgames | |
 | Odd Machines: Mechanical Boxes | $5.99 | 7 57% | 210 | $1.3k (exactly $1,258) | XSGames | |
 | Bloodweight | $14.99 | 1 0% | 30 | $450 (exactly $450) | adarkfable | |
 | Mystic Warfare | · EA | $6.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $210 (exactly $210) | SECRET PAPER |
 | The Da Vinci Cryptex 4 | $3.99 | 1 0% | 30 | $120 (exactly $120) | XSGames | |
 | Battlers Of Ekrasys | $2.99 | 1 0% | 30 | $90 (exactly $90) | Itchys |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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