Games › Sports › Sports + Female Protagonist
Should I ship a Female-Led Sports game?
Sports + Female Protagonist
Of 46 developers who shipped a Female-Led Sports 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.. 62 more are announced.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $3.0k, ×4.8 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $720; 1 in 20 cleared $440k, ×702 the market median. Revenue is down 95% on the market; 62 games are announced against 33 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $719 (exactly $719) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.0k (exactly $2,999) |
| Top 25% | $14k (exactly $14,086) |
| Top 5% | $441k (exactly $440,779) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 46 |
| Released games | 209 |
| Announced | 62 |
| 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 95% on the market, supply 135% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 9%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Sports
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Female Protagonist
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Sports; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Action-Adventure
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $49.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Anime, Colorful
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $49.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 58% positive over 120,684 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $720. 6 in 10 of the 17 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 62 games are announced against 33 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Sports with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Dynamic NarrationStrong odds
- + CraftingFair
- + Strategy RPGFair
- + SandboxFair
- + Split ScreenFair
- + Dating SimFair
- + Visual NovelFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + FMVFair
- + BikesFair
- + Immersive SimFair
- + Choices MatterFair
Comparable games
EA SPORTS FC™ 26 2025 · $209M 
Cairn 2026 · $16M 
Tony Hawk's™ Pro Skater™ 1 + 2 2023 · $5.4M 
Rollerdrome 2022 · $1.3M 
Gym Simulator 24 2024 · $986k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | EA SPORTS FC™ 26 | $69.99 | 99,773 50% | 3.0M | $209M (exactly $209,493,368) | EA Canada, EA Romania | |
| | Cairn | $29.99 | 18,224 94% | 547k | $16M (exactly $16,396,133) | The Game Bakers | |
| | Tony Hawk's™ Pro Skater™ 1 + 2 | older | $39.99 | 4,497 90% | 135k | $5.4M (exactly $5,395,051) | Vicarious Visions, Iron Galaxy Studios |
| | Rollerdrome | older | $29.99 | 1,486 91% | 45k | $1.3M (exactly $1,336,954) | Roll7 |
| | Gym Simulator 24 | older | $12.99 | 2,531 84% | 76k | $986k (exactly $986,331) | Red Axe Games |
 | Waifu Fighter | older | $7.99 | 2,677 86% | 80k | $642k (exactly $641,677) | Happy Monster Studio |
 | Wheel World | $19.99 | 735 90% | 22k | $441k (exactly $440,779) | Messhof | |
 | pureya | older | $5.99 | 2,242 96% | 67k | $403k (exactly $402,887) | Majorariatto |
 | Whisker Squadron: Survivor | $19.99 | 485 77% | 15k | $291k (exactly $290,854) | Flippfly LLC | |
 | BEYBLADE X XONE | $49.99 | 162 79% | 4.9k | $243k (exactly $242,951) | 株式会社グルーブボックスジャパン | |
 | BEYBLADE X EVOBATTLE | $49.99 | 112 81% | 3.4k | $168k (exactly $167,966) | 株式会社グルーブボックスジャパン | |
 | Shooters, Ready! | $4.99 | 807 99% | 24k | $121k (exactly $120,808) | おこめたべたべず | |
 | Fantasista Asuka | $19.99 | 177 87% | 5.3k | $106k (exactly $106,147) | qureate, Orgesta Inc. | |
 | Ocean Rush | $39.99 | 84 91% | 2.5k | $101k (exactly $100,775) | riko | |
 | Rally Arcade Classics | $19.99 | 125 79% | 3.8k | $75k (exactly $74,962) | NETK2GAMES |
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.