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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.
| 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.
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
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
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.
What kills games here
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.
Adjacent niches
Sports with a different second tag, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | 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.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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