Games › Exploration › Exploration + World War II
Should I ship a WWII Exploration game?
Exploration + World War II
Only 17 developers shipped a WWII Exploration 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, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 23 more are announced, ×2.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.5k, ×4.0 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $420; 1 in 20 cleared $27M, ×43659 the market median. Revenue is down 10% on the market; 23 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $419 (exactly $419) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.5k (exactly $2,516) |
| Top 25% | $7.2k (exactly $7,195) |
| Top 5% | $27M (exactly $27,417,883) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 17 |
| Released games | 66 |
| Announced | 23 |
| 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 down 10% on the market, supply 55% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 21%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Exploration
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- World War II
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Exploration; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Immersive Sim
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Realistic, 3D, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 89% positive over 14,631 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $420. 8 in 10 of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 23 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Exploration with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Roguelike DeckbuilderFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + SpaceshipsFair
- + Escape RoomFair
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
- + WuxiaPoor odds
- + Extraction ShooterPoor odds
- + Martial ArtsPoor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + MMORPGPoor odds
- + FMVPoor odds
- + FarmingPoor odds
Comparable games
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle 2024 · $27M 
Tank Mechanic Simulator 2020 · $5.3M 
Martha Is Dead 2022 · $2.4M 
WW2 Rebuilder 2023 · $902k 
SimplePlanes 2 2026 · EA · $789k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Indiana Jones and the Great Circle | $69.99 | 13,058 89% | 392k | $27M (exactly $27,417,883) | MachineGames | |
| | Tank Mechanic Simulator | older | $19.99 | 8,792 87% | 264k | $5.3M (exactly $5,272,562) | DeGenerals S.A. |
| | Martha Is Dead | older | $29.99 | 2,700 78% | 81k | $2.4M (exactly $2,429,190) | LKA |
| | WW2 Rebuilder | older | $19.99 | 1,504 84% | 45k | $902k (exactly $901,949) | Madnetic Games |
| | SimplePlanes 2 | · EA | $19.99 | 1,316 92% | 39k | $789k (exactly $789,205) | Jundroo, LLC |
 | Deadfall Adventures | older | $19.99 | 1,307 74% | 39k | $784k (exactly $783,808) | The Farm 51 |
 | BloodRayne: Terminal Cut | older | $14.99 | 1,593 90% | 48k | $716k (exactly $716,372) | Terminal Reality |
 | Aircraft Carrier Survival | older | $19.99 | 1,176 59% | 35k | $705k (exactly $705,247) | Gambit Games Studio |
 | Land of War - The Beginning | older | $19.99 | 713 53% | 21k | $428k (exactly $427,586) | MS GAMES |
 | Lunar Mirror:The Pavilion of Desire | older | $9.99 | 1,329 81% | 40k | $398k (exactly $398,301) | TUTGame |
 | Ship Explorer | $19.99 | 134 84% | 4.0k | $80k (exactly $80,360) | Turbine Room Studio | |
 | Salvation: Echoes of War | $19.99 | 16 93% | 480 | $9.6k (exactly $9,595) | Infinite Entropy | |
 | D-Day VR Museum | $14.99 | 16 100% | 480 | $7.2k (exactly $7,195) | Lichtblau IT | |
 | Sinking The Boats | $6.99 | 34 94% | 1.0k | $7.1k (exactly $7,130) | 孟夏Mengxia | |
 | Under a Desert Sun: Seekers of the Cursed Vessel | · EA | $24.99 | 6 100% | 180 | $4.5k (exactly $4,498) | Revolving Gear Studios |
 | .redruM | $4.99 | 26 69% | 780 | $3.9k (exactly $3,892) | Paul Alex M Samaniego | |
 | BIO Fault | $5.99 | 14 100% | 420 | $2.5k (exactly $2,516) | IKO Games | |
 | Sleepless | $5.99 | 11 54% | 330 | $2.0k (exactly $1,977) | CaRuFy, Nagodo |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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