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Should I ship a Strategy Flight game?
Flight + Strategy
Of 70 developers who shipped a Strategy 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.. 115 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $390, ×0.6 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $60. 115 games are announced against 38 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 per shipper, while revenue is down 65% on the market.
| Bottom 30% | $60 (exactly $60) |
|---|---|
| Median | $390 (exactly $390) |
| Top 25% | $7.7k (exactly $7,675) |
| Top 5% | $816k (exactly $815,617) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 70 |
| Released games | 310 |
| Announced | 115 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 65% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 12%, 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, Strategy; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Base Building, Building
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Top-Down
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 86% positive over 18,900 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $60. 9 in 10 of the 40 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 115 games are announced against 38 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 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
X4: Foundations 2018 · $38M 
Transport Fever 2 2019 · $32M 
STAR WARS™: Squadrons 2020 · $30M 
Besiege 2020 · $22M 
Microsoft Flight Simulator X: Steam Edition 2014 · $18M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | X4: Foundations | older | $49.99 | 25,257 79% | 758k | $38M (exactly $37,877,923) | Egosoft |
| | Transport Fever 2 | older | $39.99 | 26,714 89% | 801k | $32M (exactly $32,048,786) | Urban Games |
| | STAR WARS™: Squadrons | older | $39.99 | 25,086 66% | 753k | $30M (exactly $30,095,674) | MOTIVE |
| | Besiege | older | $14.99 | 48,045 95% | 1.4M | $22M (exactly $21,605,836) | Spiderling Studios |
| | Microsoft Flight Simulator X: Steam Edition | older | $24.99 | 23,349 86% | 700k | $18M (exactly $17,504,745) | Microsoft Game Studios |
 | Transport Fever | older | $29.99 | 9,278 82% | 278k | $8.3M (exactly $8,347,417) | Urban Games |
 | Airport CEO | older | $24.99 | 7,752 83% | 233k | $5.8M (exactly $5,811,674) | Apog Labs |
 | Bomber Crew | older | $15.99 | 10,416 88% | 312k | $5.0M (exactly $4,996,555) | Runner Duck |
 | X Rebirth | older | $29.99 | 5,156 42% | 155k | $4.6M (exactly $4,638,853) | Egosoft |
 | SimplePlanes | older | $12.99 | 9,811 93% | 294k | $3.8M (exactly $3,823,347) | Jundroo, LLC |
 | SpaceBourne 2 | $19.99 | 4,951 75% | 149k | $3.0M (exactly $2,969,115) | Burak Dabak | |
 | Aviassembly | · EA | $9.99 | 9,323 96% | 280k | $2.8M (exactly $2,794,103) | Jelle Booij |
 | Ground of Aces | · EA | $29.99 | 1,415 84% | 42k | $1.3M (exactly $1,273,076) | Blindflug Studios AG |
 | Solargene | $34.99 | 777 77% | 23k | $816k (exactly $815,617) | Alexander Semenov | |
 | Air Defender | · EA | $20.19 | 364 78% | 11k | $220k (exactly $220,475) | ROTOR3 |
 | Scramble: Battle of Britain | · EA | $29.99 | 209 88% | 6.3k | $188k (exactly $188,037) | Slitherine Ltd. |
 | Drone Sector | · EA | $16.99 | 366 89% | 11k | $187k (exactly $186,550) | Icosphere |
 | Drifter Star: Evolution | $3.99 | 1,165 73% | 35k | $139k (exactly $139,450) | Kayla Studio | |
 | Nothing To Declare | $9.99 | 234 76% | 7.0k | $70k (exactly $70,130) | Rogue Duck Interactive | |
 | Terminal One | $19.99 | 96 66% | 2.9k | $58k (exactly $57,571) | Terminal Reality |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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