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Should I ship a Level Editor Flight game?
Flight + Level Editor
Only 13 developers shipped a Level Editor Flight 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, Re:Flex, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 17 more are announced, ×2.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.2k, ×1.9 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $44k, ×72 the market median. Revenue is up 220% on the market; 17 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $300 (exactly $300) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.2k (exactly $1,199) |
| Top 25% | $18k (exactly $17,682) |
| Top 5% | $45k (exactly $44,955) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 13 |
| Released games | 46 |
| Announced | 17 |
| 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 up 220% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 11%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Flight
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Level Editor
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Flight, Level Editor; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Arcade, Racing
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Colorful, Family Friendly
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 91% positive over 318 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 8 in 10 of the 6 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 17 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Flight with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Choose Your Own AdventureFair
- + Hidden ObjectFair
- + Quick-Time EventsFair
- + CatsFair
- + Life SimPoor odds
- + TradingPoor odds
- + MiningPoor odds
- + CraftingPoor odds
- + Base BuildingPoor odds
- + EconomyPoor odds
- + RTSPoor odds
- + Cold WarPoor odds
Comparable games
Besiege 2020 · $22M 
VTOL VR 2017 · $18M 
Liftoff®: FPV Drone Racing 2018 · $8.2M 
Nuclear Option 2023 · EA · $6.2M 
Aerofly FS 2 Flight Simulator 2017 · $2.9M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Besiege | older | $14.99 | 48,045 95% | 1.4M | $22M (exactly $21,605,836) | Spiderling Studios |
| | VTOL VR | older | $29.99 | 19,885 98% | 597k | $18M (exactly $17,890,534) | Boundless Dynamics, LLC |
| | Liftoff®: FPV Drone Racing | older | $19.99 | 13,633 95% | 409k | $8.2M (exactly $8,175,710) | LuGus Studios |
| | Nuclear Option | · EA older | $19.99 | 10,275 95% | 308k | $6.2M (exactly $6,161,917) | Shockfront Studios |
| | Aerofly FS 2 Flight Simulator | older | $49.99 | 1,956 79% | 59k | $2.9M (exactly $2,933,413) | IPACS |
 | Juno: New Origins | older | $19.99 | 3,085 89% | 93k | $1.9M (exactly $1,850,074) | Jundroo, LLC |
 | AirportSim | older | $34.99 | 1,412 67% | 42k | $1.5M (exactly $1,482,176) | MS GAMES, MK STUDIOS |
 | BallisticNG | older | $14.99 | 2,285 95% | 69k | $1.0M (exactly $1,027,564) | Neognosis |
 | Mini Airways - ATC simulator | older | $9.99 | 1,339 92% | 40k | $401k (exactly $401,298) | CCC Games, Erabit |
 | AI Drone Simulator | older | $14.99 | 206 83% | 6.2k | $93k (exactly $92,638) | Diophante Studio |
 | Re:Flex | $9.99 | 150 86% | 4.5k | $45k (exactly $44,955) | Marc Studio | |
 | SKYSAVIOR Helicopter Services | · EA | $12.99 | 58 100% | 1.7k | $23k (exactly $22,603) | Raphael do Amaral de Albuquerque |
 | XFlight: FPV Drone Simulator | $24.99 | 24 79% | 720 | $18k (exactly $17,993) | Lingsrealm Technology | |
 | Star Racer | $9.99 | 59 93% | 1.8k | $18k (exactly $17,682) | Whatnot Games | |
 | Supersonic Bridge Racing | $11.99 | 11 100% | 330 | $4.0k (exactly $3,957) | Stumi Games | |
 | Space Tournament | $9.99 | 5 100% | 150 | $1.5k (exactly $1,498) | Trash Titans | |
 | Drawn to Drift | $9.99 | 4 100% | 120 | $1.2k (exactly $1,199) | FrogForgeGames | |
 | Gravity Drop | $6.99 | 4 100% | 120 | $839 (exactly $839) | Octopie Lab | |
 | Isles Above | · EA | $5.99 | 2 100% | 60 | $359 (exactly $359) | UVW Game Studio |
 | ZipRush: Surf the Void | · EA | $9.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $300 (exactly $300) | Narriflux |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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