Do I ship it?

GamesFlightFlight + Tactical

Specimen · observed

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.

Deciding numbers: median 1.3 times the market baseline, revenue down 95% on the market, 75 announced, ×2.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Flight + Tactical
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 40
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $3.3k → $299 → $16k → $839 → $17k → $1.7k → $0 (still earning) → $15k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Flight + Tactical: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 40
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.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

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
Tactical
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

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
Plate 4 · demand

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.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $50, median $810, 1 in 4 over $17k, 1 in 20 over $710k.

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.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Flight with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Choose Your Own AdventureFair9 devs · median $2.4k · 11 announced
  2. + Hidden ObjectFair9 devs · median $1.3k · 10 announced
  3. + Quick-Time EventsFair9 devs · median $657 · 9 announced
  4. + CatsFair6 devs · median $629 · 10 announced
  5. + Life SimPoor odds12 devs · median $70k · 29 announced
  6. + TradingPoor odds6 devs · median $36k · 21 announced
  7. + MiningPoor odds10 devs · median $35k · 13 announced
  8. + CraftingPoor odds14 devs · median $19k · 57 announced
  9. + Base BuildingPoor odds23 devs · median $17k · 48 announced
  10. + EconomyPoor odds20 devs · median $15k · 45 announced
  11. + RTSPoor odds14 devs · median $15k · 18 announced
  12. + Cold WarPoor odds10 devs · median $11k · 16 announced

All 132 pairs on the Flight page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

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.