Games › Wargame › Wargame + Dark Fantasy
Should I ship a Dark-Fantasy Wargame?
Wargame + Dark Fantasy
Of 23 developers who shipped a Dark-Fantasy Wargame 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.. 55 more are announced, ×5.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.0k, ×1.6 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $240; 1 in 20 cleared $140k, ×234 the market median. Revenue is up 3910% on the market; 55 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $240 (exactly $240) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.0k (exactly $1,010) |
| Top 25% | $51k (exactly $50,649) |
| Top 5% | $147k (exactly $146,716) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 23 |
| Released games | 64 |
| Announced | 55 |
| 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 3910% on the market, supply 25% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Wargame
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Dark Fantasy
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Wargame; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Strategy, Turn-Based Strategy
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $21.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Colorful, Story Rich
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $21.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 79% positive over 1,741 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $240. 8 in 10 of the 16 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 55 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Wargame with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Inventory ManagementFair
- + Local MultiplayerFair
- + NavalFair
- + TabletopFair
- + LogicFair
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
- + Real-TimePoor odds
- + Co-opPoor odds
- + StealthPoor odds
- + DiplomacyPoor odds
- + Colony SimPoor odds
- + SandboxPoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | 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)) |
| | 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 |
| | A Game of Thrones: The Board Game - Digital Edition | older | $19.99 | 1,705 71% | 51k | $1.0M (exactly $1,022,488) | Dire Wolf |
| | Urtuk: The Desolation | older | $13.99 | 2,408 87% | 72k | $1.0M (exactly $1,010,638) | David Kaleta |
| | BRIGANDINE ABYSS | $49.99 | 248 35% | 7.4k | $372k (exactly $371,926) | Adglobe | |
| | Immortal Realms: Vampire Wars | older | $29.99 | 408 62% | 12k | $367k (exactly $367,078) | Palindrome Interactive |
| | Unmatched: Digital Edition | older | $22.99 | 274 74% | 8.2k | $189k (exactly $188,978) | Dire Wolf |
| | 👑Idle Calibur:Zero💕(选王之剑:零) | $10.99 | 445 80% | 13k | $147k (exactly $146,716) | 绝汪 | |
| | Liquidation RTS | · EA | $21.99 | 161 89% | 4.8k | $106k (exactly $106,212) | Divio |
| | Flowers and Deities | $12.99 | 265 90% | 8.0k | $103k (exactly $103,270) | Chill Winter Studio | |
| | STRANGER SAGA -Stranger Bach and Iskiyeld's Ambition- | $9.89 | 225 86% | 6.8k | $67k (exactly $66,758) | Retro Game Balance & Mechanics -レトロ… (Retro Game Balance & Mechanics -レトロゲームの手応えとバランスを追求するデザイン工房-) | |
| | Divine's Howl | $9.99 | 169 89% | 5.1k | $51k (exactly $50,649) | Sense13 Studio | |
| | Demigoddess! | $6.99 | 111 97% | 3.3k | $23k (exactly $23,277) | SNP Engineering | |
| | Ambitious Road | $17.99 | 26 88% | 780 | $14k (exactly $14,032) | 黒木道仁 | |
| | Moonlight Chess | $7.99 | 35 77% | 1.1k | $8.4k (exactly $8,390) | MyDreamForever | |
| | Battle Synth | $4.99 | 56 92% | 1.7k | $8.4k (exactly $8,383) | Cow 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.