Do I ship it?

GamesGrand StrategyGrand Strategy + Turn-Based

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Turn-Based Grand Strategy?

Grand Strategy + Turn-Based

Only 19 developers shipped a Turn-Based Grand Strategy 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, Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 20 more are announced.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $130k, ×88 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $4.8k; 1 in 20 cleared $23M, ×15418 the market median. Revenue is down 40% on the market; 20 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 87.7 times the market baseline, revenue down 40% on the market, 20 announced, ×1.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Grand Strategy + Turn-Based
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 19
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $301k → $193k → $187k → $767k (still earning) → $61k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Grand Strategy + Turn-Based: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 19
Bottom 30% $4.8k (exactly $4,798)
Median $131k (exactly $131,334)
Top 25% $2.2M (exactly $2,205,049)
Top 5% $23M (exactly $23,095,425)
Developers, 2 yr 19
Released games 178
Announced 20
Effort 7 / 10
AI-buildability Low
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 down 40% on the market, supply 70% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 7%, 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 low: the lowest rating among its tags.

Grand Strategy
effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
Turn-Based
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
Systems
Grand Strategy, Turn-Based; all of the top 25% also carry 4X, Management, Strategy
Price point
$19.99 typical · top 25% priced $49.99 or above
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $49.99 or above; the middle game at $19.99.

The top 10 games average 83% positive over 36,943 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $4.8k, median $130k, 1 in 4 over $2.2M, 1 in 20 over $23M.

3 in 10 developers made under $4.8k. 3 in 10 of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 20 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + RoguelikeFair18 devs · median $3.3k · 22 announced
  2. + SportsFair21 devs · median $2.1k · 26 announced
  3. + RogueliteFair21 devs · median $2.0k · 23 announced
  4. + CrimeFair8 devs · median $1.9k · 13 announced
  5. + RacingFair8 devs · median $1.8k · 7 announced
  6. + IncrementalFair17 devs · median $1.3k · 27 announced
  7. + Artificial IntelligenceLong shot21 devs · median $750 · 38 announced
  8. + TabletopLong shot26 devs · median $450 · 26 announced
  9. + SandboxPoor odds59 devs · median $51k · 125 announced
  10. + Real-Time with PausePoor odds15 devs · median $37k · 29 announced
  11. + DiplomacyPoor odds54 devs · median $34k · 117 announced
  12. + NavalPoor odds8 devs · median $27k · 17 announced

All 104 pairs on the Grand Strategy page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Sid Meier’s Civilization® VI older $59.99 276,113 86% 8.3M $497M (exactly $496,920,566) Firaxis Games, Aspyr (Mac), Aspyr (Linu… (Firaxis Games, Aspyr (Mac), Aspyr (Linux))
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))
Sid Meier's Civilization® V older $29.99 128,186 95% 3.8M $115M (exactly $115,328,944) Firaxis Games, Aspyr (Mac), Aspyr (Linu… (Firaxis Games, Aspyr (Mac), Aspyr (Linux))
Total War: THREE KINGDOMS older $39.99 63,110 82% 1.9M $76M (exactly $75,713,067) CREATIVE ASSEMBLY, Feral Interactive (M… (CREATIVE ASSEMBLY, Feral Interactive (Mac), Feral Interactive (Linux))
Total War: ROME II - Emperor Edition older $29.99 54,547 87% 1.6M $49M (exactly $49,075,936) CREATIVE ASSEMBLY, Feral Interactive
HUMANKIND™ older $49.99 22,165 68% 665k $33M (exactly $33,240,850) AMPLITUDE Studios
ROMANCE OF THE THREE KINGDOMS XIV older $59.99 13,086 62% 393k $24M (exactly $23,550,874) KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD.
Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era · EA $39.99 19,251 86% 578k $23M (exactly $23,095,425) Unfrozen
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
ENDLESS Legend™ 2 · EA $49.99 2,476 83% 74k $3.7M (exactly $3,713,257) AMPLITUDE Studios
Ara History Untold: Anniversary Edition $49.99 2,141 68% 64k $3.2M (exactly $3,210,858) Oxide Games
ZEPHON $39.99 1,838 83% 55k $2.2M (exactly $2,205,049) Proxy Studios
Heroes of Science and Fiction $29.99 852 89% 26k $767k (exactly $766,544) Oxymoron Games
NationWar2:Chronicle $16.99 378 78% 11k $193k (exactly $192,667) Yiming
Warnament $12.99 479 84% 14k $187k (exactly $186,666) Luden.io
Chaos Front $19.99 252 59% 7.6k $151k (exactly $151,124) Han Zhiyu
Yield! Fall of Rome $19.99 219 69% 6.6k $131k (exactly $131,334) Billionworlds

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