Do I ship it?

GamesSportsSports + Inventory Management

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Inventory Management Sports game?

Sports + Inventory Management

Of 20 developers who shipped an Inventory Management 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.. 32 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $24k, ×38 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $480; 1 in 20 cleared $1.2M, ×1983 the market median. Revenue is down 90% on the market; 32 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 38.2 times the market baseline, revenue down 90% on the market, 32 announced, ×2.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Sports + Inventory Management
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 20
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $22k → $6.7k → $628 → $177k → $24k (still earning) → $238 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Sports + Inventory Management: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 20
Bottom 30% $479 (exactly $479)
Median $24k (exactly $23,990)
Top 25% $76k (exactly $75,793)
Top 5% $1.2M (exactly $1,245,577)
Developers, 2 yr 20
Released games 43
Announced 32
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 90% on the market, supply 50% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 16%, 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.

Sports
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Inventory Management
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Sports, Inventory Management; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Immersive Sim, Automobile Sim
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Realistic, 3D, Atmospheric
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 71% positive over 4,467 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $480, median $24k, 1 in 4 over $75k, 1 in 20 over $1.2M.

3 in 10 developers made under $480. 4 in 10 of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 32 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Dynamic NarrationStrong odds17 devs · median $4.2k · 9 announced
  2. + CraftingFair24 devs · median $37k · 26 announced
  3. + Strategy RPGFair23 devs · median $4.7k · 26 announced
  4. + SandboxFair83 devs · median $4.2k · 103 announced
  5. + Split ScreenFair58 devs · median $4.0k · 52 announced
  6. + Dating SimFair29 devs · median $3.6k · 21 announced
  7. + Visual NovelFair38 devs · median $3.4k · 31 announced
  8. + LGBTQ+Fair14 devs · median $3.4k · 13 announced
  9. + FMVFair17 devs · median $2.7k · 5 announced
  10. + BikesFair25 devs · median $2.5k · 18 announced
  11. + Immersive SimFair182 devs · median $2.4k · 185 announced
  12. + Choices MatterFair120 devs · median $2.4k · 150 announced

All 199 pairs on the Sports page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Ultimate Fishing® Simulator 2 $19.99 2,077 66% 62k $1.2M (exactly $1,245,577) Silent Bear Studio, SHINING GAMES
CarX Drift Racing Online 2 · EA $24.99 1,222 71% 37k $916k (exactly $916,133) CarX Technologies, LLC
RiMS Racing older $49.99 408 65% 12k $612k (exactly $611,878) Nacon Studio Milan
Copa City: Matchday Manager $24.99 247 72% 7.4k $185k (exactly $185,176) Triple Espresso S.A.
GT Manager $24.99 236 71% 7.1k $177k (exactly $176,929) THE TINY DIGITAL FACTORY, IMV STUDIO
Offroad Mechanic Simulator older $19.99 238 71% 7.1k $143k (exactly $142,729) Image Power S.A., GameFormatic S.A.
Climber: Sky is the Limit older $21.99 142 69% 4.3k $94k (exactly $93,677) A2 Softworks, Art Games Studio S.A.
Sailaway III $15.99 158 68% 4.7k $76k (exactly $75,793) Orbcreation BV
Disc Golf Valley older $4.99 490 81% 15k $73k (exactly $73,353) Spinoff Games
Tobiano · EA $24.99 81 79% 2.4k $61k (exactly $60,726) Ida Meyer
World of Football · EA $9.99 197 81% 5.9k $59k (exactly $59,041) Vault Game Studio
Skatehouse $9.99 123 94% 3.7k $37k (exactly $36,863) Tyler Ray Games
Sporting Goods Shop $11.99 94 97% 2.8k $34k (exactly $33,812) Business Tycoon
True Disc Golf $24.99 32 90% 960 $24k (exactly $23,990) Sportsmanlike Games

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