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Should I ship a Military Flight game?
Flight + Military
Of 62 developers who shipped a Military Flight 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.. 116 more are announced, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.1k, ×1.7 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $210; 1 in 20 cleared $1.0M, ×1660 the market median. Revenue is up 100% on the market; 116 games are announced against 37 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $210 (exactly $210) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.1k (exactly $1,078) |
| Top 25% | $50k (exactly $50,375) |
| Top 5% | $1.0M (exactly $1,042,752) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 62 |
| Released games | 241 |
| Announced | 116 |
| 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 100% on the market, supply 50% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 10%, 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
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Flight; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Simulation, Combat
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Realistic, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 86% positive over 11,764 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $210. 8 in 10 of the 27 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 116 games are announced against 37 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Flight with a different setting or mood, 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
ACE COMBAT™ 7: SKIES UNKNOWN 2019 · $83M 
VTOL VR 2017 · $18M 
Microsoft Flight Simulator X: Steam Edition 2014 · $18M 
Project Wingman 2020 · $14M 
IL-2 Sturmovik: Battle of Stalingrad 2014 · $13M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | ACE COMBAT™ 7: SKIES UNKNOWN | older | $59.99 | 46,235 87% | 1.4M | $83M (exactly $83,209,130) | Bandai Namco Studios Inc. |
| | VTOL VR | older | $29.99 | 19,885 98% | 597k | $18M (exactly $17,890,534) | Boundless Dynamics, LLC |
| | Microsoft Flight Simulator X: Steam Edition | older | $24.99 | 23,349 86% | 700k | $18M (exactly $17,504,745) | Microsoft Game Studios |
| | Project Wingman | older | $24.99 | 18,407 94% | 552k | $14M (exactly $13,799,728) | Sector D2 |
| | IL-2 Sturmovik: Battle of Stalingrad | older | $49.99 | 8,749 79% | 262k | $13M (exactly $13,120,875) | FOR-GAMES CR LTD |
 | X-Plane 12 | older | $59.99 | 6,318 86% | 190k | $11M (exactly $11,370,505) | Laminar Research |
 | Nuclear Option | · EA older | $19.99 | 10,275 95% | 308k | $6.2M (exactly $6,161,917) | Shockfront Studios |
 | Bomber Crew | older | $15.99 | 10,416 88% | 312k | $5.0M (exactly $4,996,555) | Runner Duck |
 | SimplePlanes | older | $12.99 | 9,811 93% | 294k | $3.8M (exactly $3,823,347) | Jundroo, LLC |
 | Heliborne Collection | older | $29.99 | 3,255 76% | 98k | $2.9M (exactly $2,928,524) | Klabater |
 | Cleared Hot | · EA | $17.99 | 3,934 96% | 118k | $2.1M (exactly $2,123,180) | Not Knowing Corporation |
 | Reentry - A Space Flight Simulator | $34.99 | 1,319 97% | 40k | $1.4M (exactly $1,384,554) | Lyra Creative | |
 | Ground of Aces | · EA | $29.99 | 1,415 84% | 42k | $1.3M (exactly $1,273,076) | Blindflug Studios AG |
 | Aces of Thunder | $29.99 | 1,159 57% | 35k | $1.0M (exactly $1,042,752) | Gaijin Entertainment | |
 | Vietnam War | · EA | $14.99 | 1,704 84% | 51k | $766k (exactly $766,289) | Thorium Game Lab |
 | Ukrainian Fight Drone Simulator (UFDS) - FPV drone simulator | $29.99 | 800 80% | 24k | $720k (exactly $719,760) | SIMTECH SOLUTIONS | |
 | G-Rebels | · EA | $29.99 | 254 79% | 7.6k | $229k (exactly $228,524) | Reakktor Studios |
 | Metal Thunder | · EA | $10.99 | 567 76% | 17k | $187k (exactly $186,940) | Dumbbell Games |
 | Drone Sector | · EA | $16.99 | 366 89% | 11k | $187k (exactly $186,550) | Icosphere |
 | Remote Reaper: FPV Combat Drone Simulator | · EA | $19.99 | 246 92% | 7.4k | $148k (exactly $147,526) | Vladyslav Fomenko |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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