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Should I ship a Tactical RPG Grand Strategy?
Grand Strategy + Tactical RPG
Of 36 developers who shipped a Tactical RPG 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.. 52 more are announced, ×2.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.5k, level with the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $90; 1 in 20 cleared $1.3M, ×918 the market median. Revenue is down 50% on the market; 52 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $90 (exactly $90) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.5k (exactly $1,544) |
| Top 25% | $9.4k (exactly $9,353) |
| Top 5% | $1.4M (exactly $1,375,641) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 36 |
| Released games | 107 |
| Announced | 52 |
| 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 down 50% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 15%, 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
- Tactical RPG
- 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, Tactical RPG; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Strategy RPG, RPG
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $27.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Anime
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $27.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 80% positive over 11,655 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $90. 8 in 10 of the 26 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 52 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Grand Strategy with a different second tag, 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
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Total War: WARHAMMER II | older | $59.99 | 85,134 92% | 2.6M | $153M (exactly $153,215,660) | CREATIVE ASSEMBLY, Feral Interactive (M… (CREATIVE ASSEMBLY, Feral Interactive (Mac), Feral Interactive (Linux)) |
| | Total War: WARHAMMER | older | $59.99 | 32,105 79% | 963k | $58M (exactly $57,779,368) | CREATIVE ASSEMBLY, Feral Interactive (L… (CREATIVE ASSEMBLY, Feral Interactive (Linux), Feral Interactive (Mac)) |
| | Age of Wonders 4 | older | $49.99 | 16,899 82% | 507k | $25M (exactly $25,343,430) | Triumph Studios |
| | Kingdom Heroes 8 | older | $29.99 | 12,793 55% | 384k | $12M (exactly $11,509,862) | USERJOY Technology Co.,Ltd. |
| | Phoenix Point | older | $24.99 | 5,375 73% | 161k | $4.0M (exactly $4,029,637) | Snapshot Games Inc. |
| | Heroes' Vow: Three Kingdoms | · EA | $19.99 | 6,652 88% | 200k | $4.0M (exactly $3,989,204) | Free Wing |
| | Starpoint Gemini Warlords | older | $34.99 | 3,076 72% | 92k | $3.2M (exactly $3,228,877) | Little Green Men Games |
| | SpellForce: Conquest of Eo | older | $29.99 | 2,149 80% | 64k | $1.9M (exactly $1,933,455) | Owned by Gravity |
| | The Great Villainess: Strategy of Lily | $29.99 | 1,529 85% | 46k | $1.4M (exactly $1,375,641) | Alliance Arts, One or Eight, WSS Playgr… (Alliance Arts, One or Eight, WSS Playground) | |
| | Fallen Enchantress: Legendary Heroes | older | $24.99 | 1,655 78% | 50k | $1.2M (exactly $1,240,754) | Stardock Entertainment |
| | Crown and Adventure | $19.99 | 1,693 61% | 51k | $1.0M (exactly $1,015,292) | C3D Games | |
| | Huaxia: Warring States | · EA | $19.99 | 701 61% | 21k | $420k (exactly $420,390) | 秦川汉渚 |
| | Thrive: Heavy Lies The Crown | $27.99 | 374 54% | 11k | $314k (exactly $314,048) | Zugalu Entertainment | |
| | Chaos Front | $19.99 | 252 59% | 7.6k | $151k (exactly $151,124) | Han Zhiyu | |
| | Monarch : Medieval Remastered | $11.99 | 365 80% | 11k | $131k (exactly $131,290) | Mr.Lordy | |
| | Broken Alliance | · EA | $14.99 | 42 80% | 1.3k | $19k (exactly $18,887) | Placeholder Gameworks |
| | Three Kingdoms : Restoration of Han | $12.99 | 24 33% | 720 | $9.4k (exactly $9,353) | Playnauts | |
| | Legacy of Sin: Ill-Boding | $12.99 | 23 69% | 690 | $9.0k (exactly $8,963) | Absolute Power Game Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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