Do I ship it?

GamesTacticalTactical + Demons

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Demon Tactical game?

Tactical + Demons

Of 26 developers who shipped a Demon Tactical 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.. 83 more are announced, ×5.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $2.0k, ×3.2 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $50; 1 in 20 cleared $290k, ×462 the market median. Revenue is down 55% on the market; 83 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.2 times the market baseline, revenue down 55% on the market, 83 announced, ×5.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Tactical + Demons
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 26
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $9.9k → $18k → $2.0k → $2.6k → $2.0k → $136k → $150 (still earning) → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Tactical + Demons: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 26
Bottom 30% $0 (exactly $0)
Median $2.0k (exactly $2,035)
Top 25% $26k (exactly $26,032)
Top 5% $290k (exactly $290,134)
Developers, 2 yr 26
Released games 106
Announced 83
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $9.75

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 55% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 12%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Tactical
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Demons
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Tactical; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Strategy, RPG
Price point
$9.75 typical · top 25% priced $34.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Dark
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $34.99 or above; the middle game at $9.75.

The top 10 games average 73% positive over 2,021 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $50, median $2.0k, 1 in 4 over $26k, 1 in 20 over $290k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. 8 in 10 of the 16 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 83 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.9 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Tactical with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Football (American)Strong odds12 devs · median $5.8k · 8 announced
  2. + Mystery DungeonStrong odds20 devs · median $2.5k · 15 announced
  3. + Dating SimFair13 devs · median $11k · 9 announced
  4. + 6DOFFair14 devs · median $2.4k · 19 announced
  5. + Word GameFair23 devs · median $1.8k · 12 announced
  6. + TypingFair16 devs · median $1.2k · 9 announced
  7. + DwarvesFair7 devs · median $1.0k · 10 announced
  8. + Traditional RoguelikeFair38 devs · median $987 · 57 announced
  9. + Dynamic NarrationFair13 devs · median $899 · 16 announced
  10. + Farming SimFair12 devs · median $897 · 10 announced
  11. + SolitaireFair25 devs · median $479 · 22 announced
  12. + LGBTQ+Fair20 devs · median $479 · 21 announced

All 226 pairs on the Tactical page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Phasmophobia · EA older $19.99 684,009 94% 21M $410M (exactly $410,200,197) Kinetic Games
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))
Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate - Daemonhunters older $44.99 11,426 76% 343k $15M (exactly $15,421,672) Complex Games
Demonologist older $19.99 18,886 85% 567k $11M (exactly $11,325,934) Clock Wizard Games
Disgaea PC older $19.99 4,296 87% 129k $2.6M (exactly $2,576,311) Nippon Ichi Software, Inc.
Hard West 2 older $29.99 2,717 80% 82k $2.4M (exactly $2,444,485) Ice Code Games
Sumerian Six older $29.99 1,101 94% 33k $991k (exactly $990,570) Artificer
Heretic's Fork older $9.99 3,097 85% 93k $928k (exactly $928,171) 9FingerGames
VenusBlood HOLLOW International older $44.99 287 96% 8.6k $387k (exactly $387,364) Ninetail, Dualtail
FAIRY TAIL 2 $59.99 162 61% 4.9k $292k (exactly $291,551) KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD.
Night is Coming · EA $24.99 387 59% 12k $290k (exactly $290,134) Wild Forest Studio
Project Unknown $9.99 776 81% 23k $233k (exactly $232,567) PsychoRavens
Wartorn $34.99 130 73% 3.9k $136k (exactly $136,461) Stray Kite Studios
Yokai Art 2: Tales of the Nine-Tails $9.99 314 75% 9.4k $94k (exactly $94,106) Secret Labo
Lost in Prayer · EA $19.99 92 80% 2.8k $55k (exactly $55,172) Nine Dots Studio
Deadly Quiet $9.75 89 55% 2.7k $26k (exactly $26,032) Tarba Paul Cornel, Abdul Rafy
TIC-TAC: Twelve o'clock $9.99 31 80% 930 $9.3k (exactly $9,291) ARMAG
Deadzone Haunt $14.99 18 83% 540 $8.1k (exactly $8,095) GeamGames
What Is The Ghost · EA $7.99 22 95% 660 $5.3k (exactly $5,273) Deda Games

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.