Games › Sports › Sports + Deckbuilding
Should I ship a Deckbuilding Sports game?
Sports + Deckbuilding
Of 41 developers who shipped a Deckbuilding Sports 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.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.6k, ×2.6 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $270; 1 in 20 cleared $120k, ×202 the market median. Revenue is down 90% on the market; 58 games are announced against 29 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $270 (exactly $270) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.6k (exactly $1,647) |
| Top 25% | $8.8k (exactly $8,807) |
| Top 5% | $127k (exactly $127,168) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 41 |
| Released games | 60 |
| Announced | 58 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $8.99 |
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 90% on the market, supply 125% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 17%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Sports
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Deckbuilding
- effort 3 / 10 · high · card pools and run logic
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Sports, Deckbuilding; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Card Battler, Simulation, Card Game
- Price point
- $8.99 typical · top 25% priced $39.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $39.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 12,517 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $270. 8 in 10 of the 15 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 58 games are announced against 29 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Sports with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Dynamic NarrationStrong odds
- + CraftingFair
- + Strategy RPGFair
- + SandboxFair
- + Split ScreenFair
- + Dating SimFair
- + Visual NovelFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + FMVFair
- + BikesFair
- + Immersive SimFair
- + Choices MatterFair
Comparable games
INAZUMA ELEVEN: Victory Road 2025 · $23M 
Esports Godfather 2024 · $2.6M 
NUTMEG! A Nostalgic Deckbuilding Football Manager 2026 · $283k 
Golfie 2023 · $148k 
Bombunter 2025 · $127k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | INAZUMA ELEVEN: Victory Road | $69.99 | 11,180 88% | 335k | $23M (exactly $23,474,646) | LEVEL5 Inc. | |
| | Esports Godfather | older | $19.99 | 4,319 90% | 130k | $2.6M (exactly $2,590,104) | Asteroid Game Studio |
| | NUTMEG! A Nostalgic Deckbuilding Football Manager | $24.99 | 378 89% | 11k | $283k (exactly $283,387) | Sumo Digital, Sumo Digital Academy | |
| | Golfie | older | $17.99 | 275 66% | 8.3k | $148k (exactly $148,418) | Triheart Studio |
| | Bombunter | $39.99 | 106 89% | 3.2k | $127k (exactly $127,168) | Clava STOVE | |
 | Clutchtime™: Basketball Deckbuilder | $19.99 | 180 77% | 5.4k | $108k (exactly $107,946) | Bigosaur | |
 | Outpost Legends | $39.99 | 84 95% | 2.5k | $101k (exactly $100,775) | OUT LLL | |
 | Ocean Rush | $39.99 | 84 91% | 2.5k | $101k (exactly $100,775) | riko | |
 | Pro Jank Footy | $14.99 | 215 80% | 6.5k | $97k (exactly $96,686) | Powerbomb Games, Tinker Town | |
 | Squiggle Football | $16.99 | 144 93% | 4.3k | $73k (exactly $73,397) | Max Barry | |
 | Infinity: HexaDome Tactics | $19.99 | 92 75% | 2.8k | $55k (exactly $55,172) | Blindspot Games | |
 | Football Rising:Zero to Hero | $14.99 | 54 90% | 1.6k | $24k (exactly $24,284) | Den Spade |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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