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Should I ship a Dog Strategy game?
Strategy + Dogs
Of 43 developers who shipped a Dog Strategy 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.. 49 more are announced.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $630, level with the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $90; 1 in 20 cleared $140k, ×234 the market median. Revenue is down 35% on the market; 49 games are announced against 25 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $90 (exactly $90) |
|---|---|
| Median | $629 (exactly $629) |
| Top 25% | $7.1k (exactly $7,130) |
| Top 5% | $147k (exactly $147,052) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 43 |
| Released games | 126 |
| Announced | 49 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 35% on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 17%, 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
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Strategy; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Building, Creature Collector, Management
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $13.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Cute, Colorful
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $13.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 82% positive over 2,741 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $90. 9 in 10 of the 24 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 49 games are announced against 25 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Strategy with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + BaseballFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + WuxiaFair
- + FarmingFair
- + Martial ArtsFair
- + SubmarineFair
- + NavalFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Shop KeeperFair
- + HackingFair
Comparable games
Watch_Dogs™ 2014 · $30M 
Fuga: Melodies of Steel 2021 · $1.4M 
The Flame in the Flood 2016 · $1.2M 
Railbound 2022 · $708k 
METAL MAX Xeno Reborn 2022 · $533k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Watch_Dogs™ | older | $19.99 | 49,193 79% | 1.5M | $30M (exactly $29,501,042) | Ubisoft |
| | Fuga: Melodies of Steel | older | $39.99 | 1,181 93% | 35k | $1.4M (exactly $1,416,846) | CyberConnect2 |
| | The Flame in the Flood | older | $14.99 | 2,709 76% | 81k | $1.2M (exactly $1,218,237) | The Molasses Flood |
| | Railbound | older | $12.99 | 1,818 94% | 55k | $708k (exactly $708,475) | Afterburn |
| | METAL MAX Xeno Reborn | older | $39.99 | 444 65% | 13k | $533k (exactly $532,667) | 24Frame,inc. |
 | Everdell | older | $19.99 | 577 90% | 17k | $346k (exactly $346,027) | Dire Wolf |
 | PewDiePie: Legend of the Brofist | older | $7.99 | 1,346 91% | 40k | $323k (exactly $322,636) | Outerminds Inc. |
 | Above the Snow | $24.99 | 383 75% | 11k | $287k (exactly $287,135) | Above the Desk | |
 | Furry Shades of Gay 2: A Shade Gayer | older | $9.99 | 738 96% | 22k | $221k (exactly $221,179) | Furlough Games |
 | Lyca | $4.99 | 1,282 81% | 38k | $192k (exactly $191,915) | Syphono4 | |
 | Batomon Showdown | $14.99 | 327 87% | 9.8k | $147k (exactly $147,052) | berrymint | |
 | DOG WITCH | $9.99 | 323 89% | 9.7k | $97k (exactly $96,803) | Heckmouse | |
 | Bean Beasts | $13.99 | 113 89% | 3.4k | $47k (exactly $47,426) | Anxious Noob | |
 | Pup Champs | $12.99 | 101 98% | 3.0k | $39k (exactly $39,360) | Afterburn | |
 | Claws & Chaos | $5.99 | 95 60% | 2.9k | $17k (exactly $17,072) | Parhelion Studio | |
 | Bathhouse Creatures | $4.99 | 62 98% | 1.9k | $9.3k (exactly $9,281) | Sleepy Rocket | |
 | The PARADOGX Incident | $10.99 | 25 92% | 750 | $8.2k (exactly $8,242) | Artibex | |
 | The Peak of Life | $8.99 | 30 66% | 900 | $8.1k (exactly $8,091) | XY Game |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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