Games › Sports › Sports + Historical
Should I ship a Historical Sports game?
Sports + Historical
Of 20 developers who shipped a Historical Sports 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.. 13 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.1k, ×3.3 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $410. Revenue is down 20% on the market; 13 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $405 (exactly $405) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.1k (exactly $2,098) |
| Top 25% | $7.6k (exactly $7,645) |
| Top 5% | $1.2M (exactly $1,228,254) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 20 |
| Released games | 68 |
| Announced | 13 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| 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 20% on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 21%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Sports
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Historical
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Sports; all of the top 25% also carry Management, Simulation, Strategy
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $49.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Text-Based
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $49.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 82% positive over 2,063 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $410. 7 in 10 of the 11 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 13 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Sports with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Dynamic NarrationStrong odds
- + CraftingFair
- + Strategy RPGFair
- + SandboxFair
- + Split ScreenFair
- + Dating SimFair
- + Visual NovelFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + FMVFair
- + BikesFair
- + Immersive SimFair
- + Choices MatterFair
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Walkabout Mini Golf VR | older | $24.99 | 3,094 97% | 93k | $2.3M (exactly $2,319,572) | Mighty Coconut |
| | Out of the Park Baseball 26 | $49.99 | 819 82% | 25k | $1.2M (exactly $1,228,254) | Out of the Park Developments | |
| | Out of the Park Baseball 27 | $49.99 | 475 82% | 14k | $712k (exactly $712,358) | Out of the Park Developments | |
| | NUTMEG! A Nostalgic Deckbuilding Football Manager | $24.99 | 378 89% | 11k | $283k (exactly $283,387) | Sumo Digital, Sumo Digital Academy | |
| | Franchise Hockey Manager 6 | older | $19.99 | 307 78% | 9.2k | $184k (exactly $184,108) | Out of the Park Developments, Minos Gam… (Out of the Park Developments, Minos Games) |
| | Dragon Fist: VR Kung Fu | older | $19.99 | 305 95% | 9.2k | $183k (exactly $182,908) | Ben Olding Games |
| | Qvadriga | older | $19.99 | 291 84% | 8.7k | $175k (exactly $174,513) | Turnopia |
| | Age of Gladiators | older | $7.99 | 709 77% | 21k | $170k (exactly $169,947) | Creative Storm Entertainment |
| | Age of Gladiators II: Rome | older | $19.99 | 272 66% | 8.2k | $163k (exactly $163,118) | Creative Storm Entertainment |
| | Franchise Hockey Manager 10 | older | $19.99 | 200 81% | 6.0k | $120k (exactly $119,940) | Out of the Park Developments, game54 So… (Out of the Park Developments, game54 Software) |
| | Franchise Hockey Manager 11 | $19.99 | 148 70% | 4.4k | $89k (exactly $88,756) | game54 Software, Out of the Park Develo… (game54 Software, Out of the Park Developments) | |
| | Franchise Hockey Manager 12 | $19.99 | 132 78% | 4.0k | $79k (exactly $79,160) | game54 Software, Out of the Park Develo… (game54 Software, Out of the Park Developments) | |
| | Pro Strategy Football 2026 | $24.99 | 28 89% | 840 | $21k (exactly $20,992) | Kerry Batts | |
| | Derby Heroines: Run, Bet, Win! | $14.99 | 17 94% | 510 | $7.6k (exactly $7,645) | SHINISE GAMES, MFC STUDIO | |
| | World Hockey '88 | $12.99 | 12 83% | 360 | $4.7k (exactly $4,676) | Phantasma Digital | |
| | Balling Up | $3.99 | 39 79% | 1.2k | $4.7k (exactly $4,668) | RedKar Devs | |
| | Sim: Heavyweight Boxing Champion | $9.99 | 15 93% | 450 | $4.5k (exactly $4,496) | Jfsimgames |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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