Games › Destruction › Destruction + Mechs
Should I ship a Mech Destruction game?
Destruction + Mechs
Only 17 developers shipped a Mech Destruction game 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, Monster: Titan's Playground, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 34 more are announced, ×3.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $810, ×1.3 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $240k, ×391 the market median. Revenue is down 45% on the market; 34 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $359 (exactly $359) |
|---|---|
| Median | $807 (exactly $807) |
| Top 25% | $7.5k (exactly $7,492) |
| Top 5% | $246k (exactly $245,618) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 17 |
| Released games | 55 |
| Announced | 34 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 45% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 15%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Destruction
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Mechs
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Destruction; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Arcade, Shoot 'Em Up
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Retro
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 93% positive over 1,462 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $360. 7 in 10 of the 10 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 34 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.4 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Destruction with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Space SimFair
- + ModernFair
- + God GameFair
- + Hidden ObjectFair
- + Hack and SlashPoor odds
- + HistoricalPoor odds
- + CapitalismPoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
- + Co-opPoor odds
- + Automobile SimPoor odds
- + ManagementPoor odds
- + AutomationPoor odds
Comparable games
MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries 2021 · $12M 
Planetary Annihilation: TITANS 2015 · $10M 
EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 4.1 The Shadow of New Despair 2016 · $4.7M 
Exoprimal 2023 · $4.6M 
Terminator: Dark Fate - Defiance 2024 · $4.1M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries | older | $29.99 | 13,347 84% | 400k | $12M (exactly $12,008,296) | Piranha Games Inc. |
| | Planetary Annihilation: TITANS | older | $29.99 | 11,401 84% | 342k | $10M (exactly $10,257,480) | Planetary Annihilation Inc |
| | EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 4.1 The Shadow of New Despair | older | $19.99 | 7,776 95% | 233k | $4.7M (exactly $4,663,267) | SANDLOT |
| | Exoprimal | older | $59.99 | 2,581 76% | 77k | $4.6M (exactly $4,645,026) | CAPCOM Co., Ltd. |
| | Terminator: Dark Fate - Defiance | older | $39.99 | 3,395 82% | 102k | $4.1M (exactly $4,072,982) | Slitherine Ltd. |
 | Brigador: Up-Armored Edition | older | $24.99 | 4,580 93% | 137k | $3.4M (exactly $3,433,626) | Stellar Jockeys, Gausswerks |
 | Vox Machinae | older | $29.99 | 1,177 87% | 35k | $1.1M (exactly $1,058,947) | Space Bullet Dynamics Corporation |
 | Instruments of Destruction | older | $19.99 | 1,429 91% | 43k | $857k (exactly $856,971) | Radiangames |
 | Astebreed: Definitive Edition | older | $19.99 | 1,272 87% | 38k | $763k (exactly $762,818) | Edelweiss |
 | Tesla vs Lovecraft | older | $14.99 | 851 89% | 26k | $383k (exactly $382,695) | 10tons Ltd |
 | Monster: Titan's Playground | · EA | $29.99 | 273 91% | 8.2k | $246k (exactly $245,618) | Stellar Knights |
 | Mech Havoc | · EA | $9.99 | 813 96% | 24k | $244k (exactly $243,656) | Mid Development |
 | TOP DOG | $9.99 | 263 88% | 7.9k | $79k (exactly $78,821) | MorfeoDev | |
 | VARYZNEX | $4.99 | 51 98% | 1.5k | $7.6k (exactly $7,635) | zakichi | |
 | LURRUNA - The Island of Towering Automatons | $9.99 | 25 100% | 750 | $7.5k (exactly $7,492) | PD_CGT | |
 | Deepcore Mining | $3.99 | 18 83% | 540 | $2.2k (exactly $2,155) | SilverMoon Studios | |
 | The Giant Crab in Space | $7.99 | 5 60% | 150 | $1.2k (exactly $1,198) | TensionSplice | |
 | Robot Fury: Mech Combat Simulator | · EA | $12.99 | 3 0% | 90 | $1.2k (exactly $1,169) | Hard Shark Games |
 | FEBA Gunship R | $2.99 | 9 100% | 270 | $807 (exactly $807) | rucsgames | |
 | Meteor Expedition | · EA | $7.99 | 2 50% | 60 | $479 (exactly $479) | GQ |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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