Do I ship it?

Games › Grid-Based Movement › Grid-Based Movement + Sci-fi

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Sci-fi Grid-Based Movement game?

Grid-Based Movement + Sci-fi

Of 88 developers who shipped a Sci-fi Grid-Based Movement 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.. 138 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $600, ×1.3 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $90; 1 in 20 cleared $71k, ×151 the market median. Revenue is down 25% on the market; 138 games are announced against 49 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.3 times the market baseline, revenue down 25% on the market, 138 announced, ×2.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Grid-Based Movement + Sci-fi
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 88
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.2k → $809 → $269 → $719 → $959 → $597 → $180 (still earning) → $539 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Grid-Based Movement + Sci-fi: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 88
Bottom 30% $90 (exactly $90)
Median $597 (exactly $597)
Top 25% $5.9k (exactly $5,930)
Top 5% $72k (exactly $71,705)
Developers, 2 yr 88
Released games 217
Announced 138
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $5.99

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 25% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 11%, 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.

Grid-Based Movement
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
Sci-fi
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Grid-Based Movement; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, RPG, Turn-Based Combat
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $16.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Top-Down
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $16.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 85% positive over 37,524 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $90, median $600, 1 in 4 over $5.9k, 1 in 20 over $71k.

3 in 10 developers made under $90. 9 in 10 of the 42 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 138 games are announced against 49 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Grid-Based Movement with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + HistoricalFair22 devs · median $3.0k · 30 announced
  2. + EconomyFair20 devs · median $1.2k · 29 announced
  3. + AutomationFair28 devs · median $959 · 26 announced
  4. + MiningFair12 devs · median $899 · 14 announced
  5. + CollectathonFair17 devs · median $809 · 17 announced
  6. + BuildingFair50 devs · median $719 · 57 announced
  7. + HackingFair14 devs · median $719 · 11 announced
  8. + SokobanFair143 devs · median $657 · 135 announced
  9. + ProgrammingFair23 devs · median $599 · 24 announced
  10. + DogsFair14 devs · median $599 · 7 announced
  11. + PlatformerFair23 devs · median $539 · 18 announced
  12. + Puzzle PlatformerFair62 devs · median $449 · 56 announced

All 126 pairs on the Grid-Based Movement page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

XCOM® 2 2016 · $48M STAR WARS Zero Company™ 2026 · $29M Battle Brothers 2017 · $23M MENACE 2026 · EA · $15M Xenonauts 2 2026 · $5.8M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
XCOM® 2 older $19.99 79,998 84% 2.4M $48M (exactly $47,974,801) Firaxis Games, Feral Interactive (Mac),… (Firaxis Games, Feral Interactive (Mac), Feral Interactive (Linux))
STAR WARS Zero Company™ $49.99 19,521 82% 586k $29M (exactly $29,275,644) Bit Reactor
Battle Brothers older $29.99 26,118 87% 784k $23M (exactly $23,498,365) Overhype Studios
MENACE · EA $39.99 12,281 90% 368k $15M (exactly $14,733,516) Overhype Studios
Xenonauts 2 $39.99 4,853 81% 146k $5.8M (exactly $5,822,144) Goldhawk Interactive
Cobalt Core older $19.99 4,067 95% 122k $2.4M (exactly $2,438,980) Rocket Rat Games
Jupiter Hell older $24.99 1,795 91% 54k $1.3M (exactly $1,345,712) ChaosForge
Capes older $39.99 446 67% 13k $535k (exactly $535,066) Spitfire Interactive
StarCrawlers older $19.99 793 82% 24k $476k (exactly $475,562) Juggernaut Games
Subterrain: Mines of Titan older $19.99 657 75% 20k $394k (exactly $394,003) Pixellore Inc
Jupiter Hell Classic · EA $14.99 230 95% 6.9k $103k (exactly $103,431) ChaosForge
ANIWARS: Call of the Void · EA $12.99 184 93% 5.5k $72k (exactly $71,705) Breaker Interactive
Icaria $24.99 79 75% 2.4k $59k (exactly $59,226) Blindsight Games LLC
Takara Cards $14.99 112 83% 3.4k $50k (exactly $50,366) Post Mortem Pixels
Toroban $20.00 60 86% 1.8k $36k (exactly $36,000) Hebert Games LLC
REPOSE $7.99 148 93% 4.4k $35k (exactly $35,476) Bozó Attila Bertold
Tactical Annihilation $15.99 56 98% 1.7k $27k (exactly $26,863) B.G. Game Studio

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