Do I ship it?

Games › Loot › Loot + Strategy

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Loot Strategy game?

Loot + Strategy

Of 280 developers who shipped a Loot 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.. 452 more are announced, ×2.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $3.7k, ×5.9 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $750; 1 in 20 cleared $560k, ×894 the market median. Revenue is up 10% on the market; 452 games are announced against 196 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 5.9 times the market baseline, revenue up 10% on the market, 452 announced, ×2.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Loot + Strategy
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 280
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $3.6k → $7.8k → $3.2k → $4.1k → $6.0k → $4.1k → $5.7k (still earning) → $1.7k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Loot + Strategy: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 280
Bottom 30% $748 (exactly $748)
Median $3.7k (exactly $3,711)
Top 25% $37k (exactly $37,154)
Top 5% $561k (exactly $561,226)
Developers, 2 yr 280
Released games 606
Announced 452
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $6.66

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 up 10% on the market, supply 125% 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.

Loot
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Strategy
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Loot, Strategy; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Roguelike, Roguelite
Price point
$6.66 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Colorful, Pixel Graphics
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $6.66.

The top 10 games average 72% positive over 88,189 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $750, median $3.7k, 1 in 4 over $37k, 1 in 20 over $560k.

3 in 10 developers made under $750. 7 in 10 of the 101 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 452 games are announced against 196 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.3 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Artificial IntelligenceStrong odds28 devs · median $19k · 22 announced
  2. + Local Co-OpStrong odds22 devs · median $7.3k · 21 announced
  3. + SteampunkStrong odds7 devs · median $2.2k · 10 announced
  4. + CapitalismFair36 devs · median $14k · 52 announced
  5. + Turn-Based StrategyFair86 devs · median $6.3k · 97 announced
  6. + JRPGFair34 devs · median $5.5k · 41 announced
  7. + EconomyFair74 devs · median $4.6k · 114 announced
  8. + IdlerFair181 devs · median $4.5k · 256 announced
  9. + CatsFair17 devs · median $3.4k · 24 announced
  10. + IncrementalFair145 devs · median $2.9k · 236 announced
  11. + Creature CollectorFair51 devs · median $2.9k · 67 announced
  12. + CollectathonFair90 devs · median $1.9k · 95 announced

All 159 pairs on the Loot page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Jagged Alliance 3 2023 · $15M ZERO Sievert 2024 · $8.6M Backpack Battles 2025 · $8.5M Diablo II: Resurrected – Infernal Edition 2026 · $7.0M War for the Overworld 2015 · $5.8M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Jagged Alliance 3 older $44.99 10,882 89% 326k $15M (exactly $14,687,435) Haemimont Games
ZERO Sievert $19.99 14,378 84% 431k $8.6M (exactly $8,622,487) CABO Studio
Backpack Battles $14.99 18,933 91% 568k $8.5M (exactly $8,514,170) PlayWithFurcifer
Diablo II: Resurrected – Infernal Edition $39.99 5,855 86% 176k $7.0M (exactly $7,024,244) Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.
War for the Overworld older $29.99 6,495 85% 195k $5.8M (exactly $5,843,552) Brightrock Games
河洛群俠傳 (Ho Tu Lo Shu ： The Books of Dragon) older $17.99 9,616 81% 288k $5.2M (exactly $5,189,755) 香港商河洛互動娛樂股份有限公司
龙胤立志传 $19.99 7,153 77% 215k $4.3M (exactly $4,289,654) TPP Studio
Home Behind 2 older $19.99 6,585 86% 198k $3.9M (exactly $3,949,024) TPP Studio
Inkbound older $29.99 3,592 86% 108k $3.2M (exactly $3,231,722) Shiny Shoe
NORSE: Oath of Blood $34.99 2,535 56% 76k $2.7M (exactly $2,660,990) Arctic Hazard
BidKing $2.99 22,238 33% 667k $2.0M (exactly $1,994,749) MindSurge Network & Games
Tinkerlands · EA $12.99 3,624 85% 109k $1.4M (exactly $1,412,273) CodeManu, Endless Coffee
Keep on Mining! $4.99 8,300 93% 249k $1.2M (exactly $1,242,510) EagleEye Games
Dwarves: Glory, Death and Loot $14.99 2,588 82% 78k $1.2M (exactly $1,163,824) Hamma Studios
Multiverse Loot Hunter $11.99 2,585 80% 78k $930k (exactly $929,824) 游戏养家工作室

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