Games › Destruction › Destruction + Science
Should I ship a Science Destruction game?
Destruction + Science
Only 16 developers shipped a Science 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, Space Engineers 2, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 22 more are announced, ×2.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.6k, ×4.2 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $750; 1 in 20 cleared $4.5M, ×7299 the market median. Revenue is up 45% on the market; 22 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.
not enough cohorts to draw
| Bottom 30% | $748 (exactly $748) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.6k (exactly $2,637) |
| Top 25% | $120k (exactly $119,940) |
| Top 5% | $4.6M (exactly $4,583,972) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 16 |
| Released games | 40 |
| Announced | 22 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 45% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 10%, 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
- Science
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Destruction
- Price point
- $9.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 15,510 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $750. 6 in 10 of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 22 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 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
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Universe Sandbox | · EA older | $29.99 | 27,843 96% | 835k | $25M (exactly $25,050,347) | Giant Army |
| | Space Engineers 2 | · EA | $29.99 | 5,095 74% | 153k | $4.6M (exactly $4,583,972) | Keen Software House |
| | OUTBRK | · EA older | $34.99 | 3,221 82% | 97k | $3.4M (exactly $3,381,084) | Sublime |
| | Starpoint Gemini 2 | older | $34.99 | 3,021 70% | 91k | $3.2M (exactly $3,171,144) | Little Green Men Games |
| | Aviassembly | · EA | $9.99 | 9,323 96% | 280k | $2.8M (exactly $2,794,103) | Jelle Booij |
| | Storm Chasers | · EA older | $12.99 | 2,763 89% | 83k | $1.1M (exactly $1,076,741) | Little Cloud Games |
| | RIPOUT | older | $19.99 | 783 65% | 23k | $470k (exactly $469,565) | Pet Project Games |
| | Bionic Bay | $19.99 | 750 84% | 23k | $450k (exactly $449,775) | Psychoflow Studio, Mureena Oy | |
| | Tesla vs Lovecraft | older | $14.99 | 851 89% | 26k | $383k (exactly $382,695) | 10tons Ltd |
| | CAR TUNE: Project | · EA older | $18.99 | 585 84% | 18k | $333k (exactly $333,274) | Vertices Software |
| | Terra Firma 2 | · EA | $19.99 | 200 92% | 6.0k | $120k (exactly $119,940) | Working as Intended |
| | Nuclear Design Bureau | · EA | $9.99 | 88 79% | 2.6k | $26k (exactly $26,374) | Design Bureau KB-11 |
| | Space Crash Simulator | $9.99 | 21 85% | 630 | $6.3k (exactly $6,294) | WPC | |
| | Macht: Cosmic Engine | · EA | $24.99 | 5 80% | 150 | $3.7k (exactly $3,748) | Kestro Games |
| | Propa. | $7.99 | 11 54% | 330 | $2.6k (exactly $2,637) | Contagio Games | |
| | Alembic | $4.99 | 14 85% | 420 | $2.1k (exactly $2,096) | Equious | |
| | Makarov Physics Suite | $19.99 | 3 100% | 90 | $1.8k (exactly $1,799) | Makarov Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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