Games › Diplomacy › Diplomacy + Space Sim
Should I ship a Diplomacy Space Sim?
Diplomacy + Space Sim
Only 7 developers shipped a Diplomacy Space Sim 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, Lunar Ascendant, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 14 more are announced.
Verdict: long shot, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $360, ×0.6 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, but 1 in 20 cleared $38k, ×62 the market median. Momentum is unreadable here, too few recent games; 14 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year.
not enough cohorts to draw
| Bottom 30% | $300 (exactly $300) |
|---|---|
| Median | $360 (exactly $360) |
| Top 25% | $26k (exactly $25,888) |
| Top 5% | $39k (exactly $38,674) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 7 |
| Released games | 25 |
| Announced | 14 |
| 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: too few recent games to read.
Free games: 12%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Diplomacy, Space Sim
- Price point
- $9.99 typical
Why players buy here
Fewer than 10 games in the last 2 years; sentiment and price figures use the all window.
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $14.99.
The top 10 games average 77% positive over 17,044 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 14 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Diplomacy with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Visual NovelFair
- + Interactive FictionFair
- + Open WorldPoor odds
- + Base BuildingPoor odds
- + PvPPoor odds
- + SandboxPoor odds
- + City BuilderPoor odds
- + SurvivalPoor odds
- + 4XPoor odds
- + HistoricalPoor odds
- + Alternate HistoryPoor odds
- + Character CustomizationPoor odds
Comparable games
Sins of a Solar Empire®: Rebellion 2012 · $6.1M 
Star Trek: Infinite 2023 · $2.7M 
The Fermi Paradox 2021 · EA · $545k 
Base One 2021 · $343k 
Cosmonautica 2015 · $284k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Sins of a Solar Empire®: Rebellion | older | $19.99 | 10,243 93% | 307k | $6.1M (exactly $6,142,727) | Ironclad Games Corporation, Stardock En… (Ironclad Games Corporation, Stardock Entertainment) |
| | Star Trek: Infinite | older | $29.99 | 3,030 41% | 91k | $2.7M (exactly $2,726,091) | Nimble Giant Entertainment |
| | The Fermi Paradox | · EA older | $18.99 | 956 76% | 29k | $545k (exactly $544,633) | Anomaly Games |
| | Base One | older | $24.99 | 458 36% | 14k | $343k (exactly $343,363) | PixFroze |
| | Cosmonautica | older | $9.99 | 948 48% | 28k | $284k (exactly $284,116) | Chasing Carrots |
 | Sins of a Solar Empire: Trinity® | older | $9.99 | 687 78% | 21k | $206k (exactly $205,894) | Ironclad Games Corporation, Stardock En… (Ironclad Games Corporation, Stardock Entertainment) |
 | Interstellaria | older | $9.99 | 353 53% | 11k | $106k (exactly $105,794) | Coldrice Games LLC |
 | Space Wreck | older | $16.99 | 170 88% | 5.1k | $87k (exactly $86,649) | Pahris Entertainment SIA |
 | Lord of Rigel | older | $19.99 | 113 69% | 3.4k | $68k (exactly $67,766) | Rhombus Studios |
 | Lunar Ascendant | $14.99 | 86 44% | 2.6k | $39k (exactly $38,674) | Darts Games | |
 | Riftborne | · EA | $7.99 | 108 91% | 3.2k | $26k (exactly $25,888) | Pitio Productions |
 | Space Trader Corps | $9.99 | 5 100% | 150 | $1.5k (exactly $1,498) | D Squires | |
 | GalactiWar - Empire Simulator | $11.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $360 (exactly $360) | Silver | |
 | D.R.I.F.T. | $9.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $300 (exactly $300) | ResilientLogic Games | |
 | 20 Days | $4.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | AgostonB | |
 | Contraband: Edge of the Fold | $14.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | Dero Lavigne |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.