Do I ship it?

GamesDiplomacyDiplomacy + Turn-Based Strategy

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Turn-Based Strategy Diplomacy game?

Diplomacy + Turn-Based Strategy

Of 32 developers who shipped a Turn-Based Strategy Diplomacy 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.. 76 more are announced, ×4.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $13k, ×20 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $990; 1 in 20 cleared $10M, ×17302 the market median. Revenue is up 40% on the market; 76 games are announced against 19 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 20.0 times the market baseline, revenue up 40% on the market, 76 announced, ×4.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Diplomacy + Turn-Based Strategy
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 32
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.5k → $424k → $301k → $116k → $13k → $13k → $9.0k (still earning) → $15k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Diplomacy + Turn-Based Strategy: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 32
Bottom 30% $989 (exactly $989)
Median $13k (exactly $12,579)
Top 25% $187k (exactly $186,666)
Top 5% $11M (exactly $10,865,683)
Developers, 2 yr 32
Released games 151
Announced 76
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $10.99

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 40% on the market, supply 45% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 7%, 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.

Diplomacy
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Turn-Based Strategy
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 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
Diplomacy, Turn-Based Strategy; 9 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Grand Strategy, Simulation
Price point
$10.99 typical · top 25% priced $59.99 or above
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $59.99 or above; the middle game at $10.99.

The top 10 games average 58% positive over 67,605 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $990, median $13k, 1 in 4 over $180k, 1 in 20 over $10M.

3 in 10 developers made under $990. 7 in 10 of the 15 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 76 games are announced against 19 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.0 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Diplomacy with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Visual NovelFair16 devs · median $5.4k · 19 announced
  2. + Interactive FictionFair12 devs · median $1.0k · 17 announced
  3. + Space SimLong shot7 devs · median $360 · 14 announced
  4. + Open WorldPoor odds13 devs · median $1.8M · 38 announced
  5. + Base BuildingPoor odds19 devs · median $520k · 47 announced
  6. + PvPPoor odds10 devs · median $124k · 44 announced
  7. + SandboxPoor odds34 devs · median $116k · 89 announced
  8. + City BuilderPoor odds26 devs · median $108k · 47 announced
  9. + SurvivalPoor odds16 devs · median $100k · 28 announced
  10. + 4XPoor odds29 devs · median $86k · 79 announced
  11. + HistoricalPoor odds50 devs · median $79k · 92 announced
  12. + Alternate HistoryPoor odds30 devs · median $79k · 48 announced

All 57 pairs on the Diplomacy page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Sid Meier's Civilization® V older $29.99 128,186 95% 3.8M $115M (exactly $115,328,944) Firaxis Games, Aspyr (Mac), Aspyr (Linu… (Firaxis Games, Aspyr (Mac), Aspyr (Linux))
Sid Meier's Civilization VII $69.99 44,789 48% 1.3M $94M (exactly $94,043,463) Firaxis Games
ROMANCE OF THE THREE KINGDOMS XIV older $59.99 13,086 62% 393k $24M (exactly $23,550,874) KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD.
Total War: ROME REMASTERED older $29.99 12,627 77% 379k $11M (exactly $11,360,512) Creative Assembly, Feral Interactive
Terra Invicta $39.99 9,057 80% 272k $11M (exactly $10,865,683) Pavonis Interactive
Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIII older $59.99 5,828 57% 175k $10M (exactly $10,488,652) KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD.
Age of History II older $5.99 47,614 89% 1.4M $8.6M (exactly $8,556,236) Łukasz Jakowski
Old World older $39.99 6,002 82% 180k $7.2M (exactly $7,200,599) Mohawk Games
ROMANCE OF THE THREE KINGDOMS 8 REMAKE $59.99 3,118 49% 94k $5.6M (exactly $5,611,465) KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD.
Democracy 4 older $29.99 5,891 81% 177k $5.3M (exactly $5,300,133) Positech Games
ENDLESS Legend™ 2 · EA $49.99 2,476 83% 74k $3.7M (exactly $3,713,257) AMPLITUDE Studios
Ara History Untold: Anniversary Edition $49.99 2,141 68% 64k $3.2M (exactly $3,210,858) Oxide Games
Age of History 2: Definitive Edition $9.99 2,600 83% 78k $779k (exactly $779,220) Łukasz Jakowski
Politics The Game $9.99 2,526 95% 76k $757k (exactly $757,042) Simplicity Games
Warnament $12.99 479 84% 14k $187k (exactly $186,666) Luden.io
King's Orders $14.99 257 70% 7.7k $116k (exactly $115,573) AFTERLIFE👻
Mr. President $19.99 162 75% 4.9k $97k (exactly $97,151) Exia Labs

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