Games › Flight › Flight + Tactical
Should I ship a Flight Tactical game?
Flight + Tactical
Of 40 developers who shipped a Flight Tactical 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.. 75 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $810, ×1.3 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $50; 1 in 20 cleared $710k, ×1146 the market median. Revenue is down 95% on the market; 75 games are announced against 28 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $30 (exactly $30) |
|---|---|
| Median | $807 (exactly $807) |
| Top 25% | $17k (exactly $17,391) |
| Top 5% | $720k (exactly $719,760) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 40 |
| Released games | 112 |
| Announced | 75 |
| 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: 13%, 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, Tactical; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Wargame, Shooter
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Realistic
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 7,042 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $50. 7 in 10 of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 75 games are announced against 28 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 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
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | 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 |
| | Tower! Simulator 3 | older | $59.99 | 1,047 67% | 31k | $1.9M (exactly $1,884,286) | FeelThere |
| | Guns of Icarus Online | older | $4.99 | 8,245 91% | 247k | $1.2M (exactly $1,234,276) | Muse Games |
| | House of the Dying Sun | older | $19.99 | 1,939 89% | 58k | $1.2M (exactly $1,162,818) | Marauder Interactive, LLC |
| | ICBM | older | $19.99 | 1,655 91% | 50k | $993k (exactly $992,503) | SoftWarWare, K-Project |
| | Ukrainian Fight Drone Simulator (UFDS) - FPV drone simulator | $29.99 | 800 80% | 24k | $720k (exactly $719,760) | SIMTECH SOLUTIONS | |
| | Project Gunship | · EA older | $14.99 | 836 75% | 25k | $376k (exactly $375,949) | Sklorite Studios LLC |
| | Combat Air Patrol 2: Military Flight Simulator | · EA older | $29.99 | 356 47% | 11k | $320k (exactly $320,293) | Sim155 Limited |
| | Air Missions: HIND | older | $16.99 | 587 79% | 18k | $299k (exactly $299,194) | 3Division |
| | Scramble: Battle of Britain | · EA | $29.99 | 209 88% | 6.3k | $188k (exactly $188,037) | Slitherine Ltd. |
| | 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 |
| | Birds of War | $9.99 | 439 87% | 13k | $132k (exactly $131,568) | HexNest Games | |
| | The AC130 slays the zombies. | $3.99 | 377 63% | 11k | $45k (exactly $45,127) | 汪双羽 | |
| | Reflex Unit: Strike Ops | $15.99 | 75 84% | 2.3k | $36k (exactly $35,978) | ROBOSARU Games | |
| | WarOS | · EA | $19.99 | 29 72% | 870 | $17k (exactly $17,391) | The7 Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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