Should I ship a War Flight game?
Flight + War
Of 60 developers who shipped a War 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.. 103 more are announced, ×3.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $660, level with the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $1.2M, ×2027 the market median. Revenue is down 25% on the market; 103 games are announced against 30 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $178 (exactly $178) |
|---|---|
| Median | $657 (exactly $657) |
| Top 25% | $8.6k (exactly $8,626) |
| Top 5% | $1.3M (exactly $1,273,076) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 60 |
| Released games | 243 |
| Announced | 103 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $9.00 |
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 25% on the market, supply as many developers as 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; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Action, Wargame
- Price point
- $9.00 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
- Art
- 4 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 $9.00.
The top 10 games average 82% positive over 15,351 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $180. 8 in 10 of the 33 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 103 games are announced against 30 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.4 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 
Project Wingman 2020 · $14M 
IL-2 Sturmovik: Battle of Stalingrad 2014 · $13M 
Nuclear Option 2023 · EA · $6.2M | 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 |
| | 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 |
| | 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 |
 | SpaceBourne 2 | $19.99 | 4,951 75% | 149k | $3.0M (exactly $2,969,115) | Burak Dabak | |
 | Heliborne Collection | older | $29.99 | 3,255 76% | 98k | $2.9M (exactly $2,928,524) | Klabater |
 | FPV Kamikaze Drone | · EA older | $5.99 | 12,192 86% | 366k | $2.2M (exactly $2,190,902) | HFM Games |
 | Cleared Hot | · EA | $17.99 | 3,934 96% | 118k | $2.1M (exactly $2,123,180) | Not Knowing Corporation |
 | 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 | |
 | 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 |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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