Games › Destruction › Destruction + Robots
Should I ship a Robot Destruction game?
Destruction + Robots
Of 30 developers who shipped a Robot Destruction 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.. 68 more are announced, ×6.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.2k, ×1.9 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $620k, ×1001 the market median. Revenue is up 10% on the market; 68 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $449 (exactly $449) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.2k (exactly $1,198) |
| Top 25% | $12k (exactly $11,642) |
| Top 5% | $628k (exactly $628,486) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 30 |
| Released games | 109 |
| Announced | 68 |
| 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 up 10% on the market, supply 45% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 22%, 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
- Robots
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Destruction; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Physics, Arcade
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Colorful, Funny
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 91% positive over 5,309 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $450. 8 in 10 of the 26 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 68 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year, ×6.2 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
Planetary Annihilation: TITANS 2015 · $10M 
Starbase 2021 · EA · $6.5M 
EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 4.1 The Shadow of New Despair 2016 · $4.7M 
Exoprimal 2023 · $4.6M 
Brigador: Up-Armored Edition 2016 · $3.4M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Planetary Annihilation: TITANS | older | $29.99 | 11,401 84% | 342k | $10M (exactly $10,257,480) | Planetary Annihilation Inc |
| | Starbase | · EA older | $34.99 | 6,217 56% | 187k | $6.5M (exactly $6,525,985) | Frozenbyte |
| | 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. |
| | Brigador: Up-Armored Edition | older | $24.99 | 4,580 93% | 137k | $3.4M (exactly $3,433,626) | Stellar Jockeys, Gausswerks |
 | VOID/BREAKER | · EA | $29.99 | 2,506 91% | 75k | $2.3M (exactly $2,254,648) | Stubby Games |
 | Taur | older | $24.99 | 2,011 79% | 60k | $1.5M (exactly $1,507,647) | Echo Entertainment |
 | Vox Machinae | older | $29.99 | 1,177 87% | 35k | $1.1M (exactly $1,058,947) | Space Bullet Dynamics Corporation |
 | Astebreed: Definitive Edition | older | $19.99 | 1,272 87% | 38k | $763k (exactly $762,818) | Edelweiss |
 | Clone Drone in the Hyperdome | $19.99 | 1,048 91% | 31k | $628k (exactly $628,486) | Doborog Games | |
 | Annihilate The Spance | · EA | $29.99 | 347 90% | 10k | $312k (exactly $312,196) | Skyglow Softworks |
 | You Know The Drill | $4.99 | 1,022 92% | 31k | $153k (exactly $152,993) | ludokai | |
 | ACUVAC: A Suck and Blow Adventure | $14.99 | 54 98% | 1.6k | $24k (exactly $24,284) | Curdle Games, Mr_Afroduck | |
 | Son of a Gun | $9.99 | 80 78% | 2.4k | $24k (exactly $23,976) | Crank Goblin | |
 | Bandit Trap | $14.99 | 28 92% | 840 | $13k (exactly $12,592) | PICOMY | |
 | Ultra Cop | $1.99 | 195 89% | 5.9k | $12k (exactly $11,642) | JG Roos | |
 | Blast Rush LS | $9.99 | 13 100% | 390 | $3.9k (exactly $3,896) | Bipedal Dog | |
 | HEAVENSHATTER | $4.99 | 16 93% | 480 | $2.4k (exactly $2,395) | Raifu |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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