Games › Grand Strategy › Grand Strategy + Space
Should I ship a Space Grand Strategy?
Grand Strategy + Space
Of 37 developers who shipped a Space Grand Strategy 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.. 61 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.2k, ×1.5 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $510k, ×342 the market median. Revenue is up 140% on the market; 61 games are announced against 23 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $359 (exactly $359) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.2k (exactly $2,249) |
| Top 25% | $20k (exactly $20,390) |
| Top 5% | $513k (exactly $512,743) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 37 |
| Released games | 135 |
| Announced | 61 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| 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 up 140% on the market, supply 65% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 6%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Grand Strategy
- effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
- Space
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Grand Strategy; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, 4X, Management
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 78% positive over 11,387 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $360. 8 in 10 of the 17 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 61 games are announced against 23 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Grand Strategy with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + RoguelikeFair
- + SportsFair
- + RogueliteFair
- + CrimeFair
- + RacingFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceLong shot
- + TabletopLong shot
- + Turn-BasedPoor odds
- + SandboxPoor odds
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
- + DiplomacyPoor odds
Comparable games
Stellaris 2016 · $210M 
X4: Foundations 2018 · $38M 
STAR WARS™ Empire at War - Gold Pack 2010 · $22M 
ENDLESS Space™ 2 2017 · $21M 
Sid Meier's Civilization®: Beyond Earth™ 2014 · $17M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Stellaris | older | $49.99 | 139,718 85% | 4.2M | $210M (exactly $209,535,085) | Paradox Development Studio |
| | X4: Foundations | older | $49.99 | 25,257 79% | 758k | $38M (exactly $37,877,923) | Egosoft |
| | STAR WARS™ Empire at War - Gold Pack | older | $19.99 | 36,153 97% | 1.1M | $22M (exactly $21,680,954) | Petroglyph |
| | ENDLESS Space™ 2 | older | $39.99 | 17,280 83% | 518k | $21M (exactly $20,730,816) | AMPLITUDE Studios |
| | 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)) |
 | Terra Invicta | $39.99 | 9,057 80% | 272k | $11M (exactly $10,865,683) | Pavonis Interactive | |
 | Planetary Annihilation: TITANS | older | $29.99 | 11,401 84% | 342k | $10M (exactly $10,257,480) | Planetary Annihilation Inc |
 | Galactic Civilizations III | older | $29.99 | 8,337 77% | 250k | $7.5M (exactly $7,500,799) | Stardock Entertainment |
 | Sins of a Solar Empire®: Rebellion | older | $19.99 | 10,243 93% | 307k | $6.1M (exactly $6,142,727) | Ironclad Games Corporation, Stardock En… (Ironclad Games Corporation, Stardock Entertainment) |
 | Master of Orion | older | $24.99 | 7,332 76% | 220k | $5.5M (exactly $5,496,800) | NGD Studios |
 | Creeper World IXE | $19.99 | 855 69% | 26k | $513k (exactly $512,743) | Knuckle Cracker | |
 | Solar Nations 2 | · EA | $14.99 | 609 85% | 18k | $274k (exactly $273,867) | Flomgus Games |
 | Realpolitiks 3: Earth and Beyond | $24.99 | 253 39% | 7.6k | $190k (exactly $189,674) | Jujubee | |
 | Chaos Front | $19.99 | 252 59% | 7.6k | $151k (exactly $151,124) | Han Zhiyu | |
 | Solar Wave | · EA | $17.99 | 80 75% | 2.4k | $43k (exactly $43,176) | SavGus Studio |
 | Riftborne | · EA | $7.99 | 108 91% | 3.2k | $26k (exactly $25,888) | Pitio Productions |
 | Astro Protocol | $11.99 | 66 93% | 2.0k | $24k (exactly $23,740) | Null Vector Studios | |
 | SpaceCorp: 2025-2300AD | $9.99 | 73 83% | 2.2k | $22k (exactly $21,878) | Logix Interactive | |
 | Stellar Reach | $19.99 | 34 79% | 1.0k | $20k (exactly $20,390) | Stelleas |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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