Games › Strategy › Strategy + Heist
Should I ship a Heist Strategy game?
Strategy + Heist
Of 24 developers who shipped a Heist Strategy 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.. 58 more are announced, ×4.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.0k, ×3.1 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $240; 1 in 20 cleared $120k, ×195 the market median. Revenue is down 95% on the market; 58 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $239 (exactly $239) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.0k (exactly $1,977) |
| Top 25% | $57k (exactly $56,977) |
| Top 5% | $122k (exactly $122,247) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 24 |
| Released games | 109 |
| Announced | 58 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 95% on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 23%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Strategy; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Dungeon Crawler
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $22.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, Atmospheric, Colorful
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $22.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 85% positive over 2,027 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $240. 5 in 10 of the 13 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 58 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Strategy with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + BaseballFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + WuxiaFair
- + FarmingFair
- + Martial ArtsFair
- + SubmarineFair
- + NavalFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Shop KeeperFair
- + HackingFair
Comparable games
PAYDAY 2 2013 · $134M 
Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 2017 · $9.1M 
PAYDAY™ The Heist 2011 · $6.6M 
112 Operator 2020 · $4.3M 
Deceive Inc. 2023 · $2.9M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | PAYDAY 2 | older | $9.99 | 445,531 89% | 13M | $134M (exactly $133,525,641) | OVERKILL - a Starbreeze Studio., Sidetr… (OVERKILL - a Starbreeze Studio., Sidetrack Games) |
| | Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 | older | $19.99 | 15,133 67% | 454k | $9.1M (exactly $9,075,260) | CI Games |
| | PAYDAY™ The Heist | older | $9.99 | 21,870 92% | 656k | $6.6M (exactly $6,554,439) | OVERKILL - a Starbreeze Studio. |
| | 112 Operator | older | $24.99 | 5,688 88% | 171k | $4.3M (exactly $4,264,294) | Jutsu Games |
| | Deceive Inc. | older | $19.99 | 4,755 84% | 143k | $2.9M (exactly $2,851,574) | Sweet Bandits Studios |
 | SUPER DRAGON BALL HEROES WORLD MISSION | older | $59.99 | 1,404 82% | 42k | $2.5M (exactly $2,526,779) | Dimps Corporation, SAFARI GAMES Co., Lt… (Dimps Corporation, SAFARI GAMES Co., Ltd.) |
 | SteamWorld Heist II | older | $29.99 | 2,201 93% | 66k | $2.0M (exactly $1,980,240) | Thunderful Development |
 | SteamWorld Heist | older | $14.99 | 4,232 93% | 127k | $1.9M (exactly $1,903,130) | Image & Form Games |
 | Monaco: What's Yours Is Mine | older | $14.99 | 3,756 92% | 113k | $1.7M (exactly $1,689,073) | Pocketwatch Games |
 | Perfect Heist 2 | older | $9.99 | 3,711 94% | 111k | $1.1M (exactly $1,112,187) | yeswecamp |
 | Clank! | $22.99 | 542 92% | 16k | $374k (exactly $373,817) | Dire Wolf | |
 | Net.Attack() - Code or Die! | $7.99 | 510 80% | 15k | $122k (exactly $122,247) | ByteRockers' Games | |
 | Relooted | $14.99 | 257 87% | 7.7k | $116k (exactly $115,573) | Nyamakop | |
 | Monaco 2 | $14.99 | 156 63% | 4.7k | $70k (exactly $70,153) | Pocketwatch Games | |
 | HeistGeist | $19.90 | 116 95% | 3.5k | $69k (exactly $69,252) | Doublequote Studio | |
 | Thousand Hells: The Underworld Heists | $24.99 | 76 78% | 2.3k | $57k (exactly $56,977) | A Sharp | |
 | Dragon's Chronicles~暗黒大魔王と北斗の剣(つるぎ)~ | $12.99 | 128 85% | 3.8k | $50k (exactly $49,882) | スタジオあっとほ～む | |
 | The Electrifying Incident: A Monster Mini-Expedition | $4.99 | 169 93% | 5.1k | $25k (exactly $25,299) | Draknek and Friends | |
 | Snap & Grab | $7.99 | 58 91% | 1.7k | $14k (exactly $13,903) | No Goblin | |
 | Golden Rails: The heart of the state | $6.99 | 15 93% | 450 | $3.1k (exactly $3,146) | Alawar Casual |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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