Do I ship it?

GamesSportsSports + Gambling

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Gambling Sports game?

Sports + Gambling

Of 20 developers who shipped a Gambling Sports 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.. 22 more are announced.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $480, ×0.8 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $53M, ×85763 the market median. Revenue is down 85% on the market; 22 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 0.8 times the market baseline, revenue down 85% on the market, 22 announced, ×1.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Sports + Gambling
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 20
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.2k → $5.8k → $4.6k → $4.0k → $209 (still earning) → $2.2k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Sports + Gambling: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 20
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $479 (exactly $479)
Top 25% $4.6k (exactly $4,554)
Top 5% $54M (exactly $53,859,405)
Developers, 2 yr 20
Released games 75
Announced 22
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $4.99

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 85% on the market, supply 65% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 31%, 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.

Sports
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Gambling
effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high 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
Sports, Gambling; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Co-op, Online Co-Op
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $69.99 or above
Art
8 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $69.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 67% positive over 29,734 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $150, median $480, 1 in 4 over $4.5k, 1 in 20 over $53M.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. 6 in 10 of the 17 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 22 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Dynamic NarrationStrong odds17 devs · median $4.2k · 9 announced
  2. + CraftingFair24 devs · median $37k · 26 announced
  3. + Strategy RPGFair23 devs · median $4.7k · 26 announced
  4. + SandboxFair83 devs · median $4.2k · 103 announced
  5. + Split ScreenFair58 devs · median $4.0k · 52 announced
  6. + Dating SimFair29 devs · median $3.6k · 21 announced
  7. + Visual NovelFair38 devs · median $3.4k · 31 announced
  8. + LGBTQ+Fair14 devs · median $3.4k · 13 announced
  9. + FMVFair17 devs · median $2.7k · 5 announced
  10. + BikesFair25 devs · median $2.5k · 18 announced
  11. + Immersive SimFair182 devs · median $2.4k · 185 announced
  12. + Choices MatterFair120 devs · median $2.4k · 150 announced

All 199 pairs on the Sports page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
NBA 2K25 older $69.99 30,969 60% 929k $65M (exactly $65,025,609) Visual Concepts
NBA 2K26 $69.99 25,651 66% 770k $54M (exactly $53,859,405) Visual Concepts
NBA 2K27 $69.99 1,698 53% 51k $3.6M (exactly $3,565,291) Visual Concepts
Cricket 22 older $44.99 1,717 81% 52k $2.3M (exactly $2,317,435) Big Ant Studios
Poker Club older $19.99 506 58% 15k $303k (exactly $303,448) Ripstone
Nine-Ball Roulette $3.99 2,159 88% 65k $258k (exactly $258,432) WaveBox Labs
Pure Hold'em older $17.99 110 46% 3.3k $59k (exactly $59,367) VooFoo Studios
Mahjong Nagomi older $4.99 245 79% 7.4k $37k (exactly $36,676) Zoo Corporation
Poker Pretty Girls Battle: Texas Hold'em older $4.99 118 56% 3.5k $18k (exactly $17,665) Zoo Corporation
Super Blackjack Battle 2 Turbo Edition - The Card Warriors older $11.99 48 58% 1.4k $17k (exactly $17,266) Stage Clear Studios
Break Shoot $4.99 106 99% 3.2k $16k (exactly $15,868) UPTRAND
Backyard Boxing $7.99 49 48% 1.5k $12k (exactly $11,745) Crime House Games, TheShadeGameDev
Real Roulette $7.99 19 84% 570 $4.6k (exactly $4,554) PixelFlood
Sunday League Manager: Horse and Spoon $8.99 15 93% 450 $4.0k (exactly $4,046) christianosway
Blackjack · EA $5.99 18 72% 540 $3.2k (exactly $3,235) Hard Shark Games
Casino Legends $4.99 15 86% 450 $2.2k (exactly $2,246) Pinch Games
Sleep Aid $7.77 4 100% 120 $932 (exactly $932) Summer Punk

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.