Games › Driving › Driving + Strategy
Should I ship a Strategy Driving game?
Driving + Strategy
Of 71 developers who shipped a Strategy Driving 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.. 96 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.2k, ×3.6 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $480; 1 in 20 cleared $640k, ×1021 the market median. Revenue is up 10% on the market; 96 games are announced against 39 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $479 (exactly $479) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.2k (exactly $2,248) |
| Top 25% | $42k (exactly $41,658) |
| Top 5% | $641k (exactly $641,482) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 71 |
| Released games | 194 |
| Announced | 96 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| 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 10% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 9%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Driving, Strategy; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Management, Action
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person, Realistic
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 96% positive over 297,818 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $480. 6 in 10 of the 35 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 96 games are announced against 39 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Driving with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Split ScreenFair
- + Psychological HorrorFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Survival HorrorFair
- + World War IIFair
- + MusicFair
- + ThrillerFair
- + Interactive FictionFair
- + LogicFair
- + Hidden ObjectFair
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
- + AutomationPoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Schedule I | · EA | $19.99 | 288,939 97% | 8.7M | $173M (exactly $173,276,718) | TVGS |
| | Farming Simulator 19 | older | $17.99 | 64,621 94% | 1.9M | $35M (exactly $34,875,954) | GIANTS Software |
| | Watch_Dogs™ | older | $19.99 | 49,193 79% | 1.5M | $30M (exactly $29,501,042) | Ubisoft |
| | Car Mechanic Simulator 2018 | older | $19.99 | 48,366 91% | 1.5M | $29M (exactly $29,005,090) | Red Dot Games |
| | Train Simulator Classic | older | $29.99 | 19,461 73% | 584k | $18M (exactly $17,509,062) | Dovetail Games |
| | Farming Simulator 17 | older | $14.99 | 23,063 93% | 692k | $10M (exactly $10,371,431) | GIANTS Software |
| | Gold Mining Simulator | older | $19.99 | 15,132 72% | 454k | $9.1M (exactly $9,074,660) | Code Horizon |
| | Transport Fever | older | $29.99 | 9,278 82% | 278k | $8.3M (exactly $8,347,417) | Urban Games |
| | F1® Manager 2024 | older | $34.99 | 5,554 83% | 167k | $5.8M (exactly $5,830,034) | Frontier Developments |
| | Farming Simulator 15 | older | $12.99 | 13,306 92% | 399k | $5.2M (exactly $5,185,348) | GIANTS Software |
| | Train Sim World® 6 | $49.99 | 2,485 78% | 75k | $3.7M (exactly $3,726,754) | Dovetail Games | |
| | Wanderburg | · EA | $14.99 | 2,103 78% | 63k | $946k (exactly $945,719) | Randwerk |
| | Badlands Crew - Drive, Command, Conquer | $18.99 | 1,126 78% | 34k | $641k (exactly $641,482) | Runner Duck | |
| | Bus Simulator 27 | $29.99 | 489 59% | 15k | $440k (exactly $439,953) | Simteract | |
| | Dustland Delivery | $7.99 | 1,264 88% | 38k | $303k (exactly $302,981) | Neutron Star Studio | |
| | A Bumpy Ride | $14.99 | 569 97% | 17k | $256k (exactly $255,879) | Cosmoporium Games | |
| | The Boss Gangster: Criminal Empire | · EA | $18.99 | 385 81% | 12k | $219k (exactly $219,334) | BEF GAMES |
| | GT Manager | $24.99 | 236 71% | 7.1k | $177k (exactly $176,929) | THE TINY DIGITAL FACTORY, IMV STUDIO | |
| | Heavy Cargo - The Truck Simulator | $24.99 | 222 53% | 6.7k | $166k (exactly $166,433) | tox² interactive GmbH |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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