Games › Turn-Based › Turn-Based + Futuristic
Should I ship a Futuristic Turn-Based game?
Turn-Based + Futuristic
Only 13 developers shipped a Futuristic Turn-Based game in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus II, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 21 more are announced, ×3.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $7.5k, ×12 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $3.9k; 1 in 20 cleared $2.5M, ×3989 the market median. Revenue is up 1210% on the market; 21 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $3.9k (exactly $3,896) |
|---|---|
| Median | $7.5k (exactly $7,547) |
| Top 25% | $178k (exactly $177,511) |
| Top 5% | $2.5M (exactly $2,504,974) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 13 |
| Released games | 77 |
| Announced | 21 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $19.99 |
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 1210% on the market, supply 15% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 8%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Turn-Based
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Futuristic
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Turn-Based; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Strategy, Tactical
- Price point
- $19.99 typical · top 25% priced $49.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Story Rich
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $49.99 or above; the middle game at $19.99.
The top 10 games average 63% positive over 3,532 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $3.9k. 7 in 10 of the 10 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 21 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Turn-Based with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Asynchronous MultiplayerStrong odds
- + DragonsStrong odds
- + Hack and SlashStrong odds
- + SandboxFair
- + HorrorFair
- + CraftingFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + Perma DeathFair
- + ArcadeFair
- + ChessFair
- + Tower DefensePoor odds
- + 4XPoor odds
Comparable games
BATTLETECH 2018 · $28M 
XCOM: Enemy Unknown 2012 · $18M 
Sid Meier's Civilization®: Beyond Earth™ 2014 · $17M 
FINAL FANTASY® XIII 2014 · $7.8M 
Galactic Civilizations III 2015 · $7.5M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | BATTLETECH | older | $39.99 | 23,024 84% | 691k | $28M (exactly $27,621,893) | Harebrained Schemes |
| | XCOM: Enemy Unknown | older | $14.99 | 40,345 93% | 1.2M | $18M (exactly $18,143,146) | Firaxis Games, Feral Interactive (Linux) |
| | Sid Meier's Civilization®: Beyond Earth™ | older | $39.99 | 14,047 61% | 421k | $17M (exactly $16,852,186) | Firaxis Games, Aspyr (Mac), Aspyr (Linu… (Firaxis Games, Aspyr (Mac), Aspyr (Linux)) |
| | FINAL FANTASY® XIII | older | $15.99 | 16,314 74% | 489k | $7.8M (exactly $7,825,826) | Square Enix |
| | Galactic Civilizations III | older | $29.99 | 8,337 77% | 250k | $7.5M (exactly $7,500,799) | Stardock Entertainment |
 | XCOM®: Chimera Squad | older | $9.99 | 20,602 71% | 618k | $6.2M (exactly $6,174,419) | Firaxis Games |
 | Age of Wonders: Planetfall | older | $29.99 | 4,758 80% | 143k | $4.3M (exactly $4,280,773) | Triumph Studios |
 | Soul Hackers 2 | older | $59.99 | 2,300 65% | 69k | $4.1M (exactly $4,139,310) | ATLUS |
 | I Was a Teenage Exocolonist | older | $24.99 | 4,443 96% | 133k | $3.3M (exactly $3,330,917) | Northway Games |
 | Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus II | $39.99 | 2,088 53% | 63k | $2.5M (exactly $2,504,974) | Bulwark Studios | |
 | FANTASIAN Neo Dimension | $49.99 | 500 76% | 15k | $750k (exactly $749,850) | Mistwalker Corporation | |
 | Every Day We Fight | · EA | $29.99 | 385 72% | 12k | $346k (exactly $346,384) | Signal Space Lab |
 | Starless Abyss | $19.99 | 296 83% | 8.9k | $178k (exactly $177,511) | Konafa Games | |
 | R-Type Tactics I • II Cosmos | $49.99 | 94 82% | 2.8k | $141k (exactly $140,972) | Granzella Inc. | |
 | Infinity: HexaDome Tactics | $19.99 | 92 75% | 2.8k | $55k (exactly $55,172) | Blindspot Games | |
 | Galactic Simulator2: Stargate | $5.99 | 42 78% | 1.3k | $7.5k (exactly $7,547) | PcZ Games | |
 | Fractured Core | $14.99 | 14 78% | 420 | $6.3k (exactly $6,296) | Engram Interactive | |
 | HARD VOID | · EA | $19.99 | 8 100% | 240 | $4.8k (exactly $4,798) | jejoxdev |
 | Hexalith | $9.99 | 13 100% | 390 | $3.9k (exactly $3,896) | Artemi Studios |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.