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Should I ship a Loot Tactical RPG?
Loot + Tactical RPG
Of 52 developers who shipped a Loot Tactical RPG 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.. 74 more are announced, ×2.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.7k, ×4.3 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $190k, ×313 the market median. Revenue is up 325% on the market; 74 games are announced against 34 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $299 (exactly $299) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.7k (exactly $2,728) |
| Top 25% | $18k (exactly $17,985) |
| Top 5% | $196k (exactly $196,409) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 52 |
| Released games | 125 |
| Announced | 74 |
| Effort | 5 / 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 up 325% on the market, supply 90% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 10%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Tactical RPG
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Loot, Tactical RPG; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Strategy, Turn-Based Tactics
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 72% positive over 7,427 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. Nearly all of the 21 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 74 games are announced against 34 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Loot with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Artificial IntelligenceStrong odds
- + Local Co-OpStrong odds
- + SteampunkStrong odds
- + CapitalismFair
- + Turn-Based StrategyFair
- + JRPGFair
- + EconomyFair
- + IdlerFair
- + CatsFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + Creature CollectorFair
- + CollectathonFair
Comparable games
Jagged Alliance 3 2023 · $15M 
Inkbound 2024 · $3.2M 
NORSE: Oath of Blood 2026 · $2.7M 
Stolen Realm 2024 · $2.1M 
Dwarves: Glory, Death and Loot 2026 · $1.2M | 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 |
| | 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 | |
| | Stolen Realm | older | $19.99 | 3,470 84% | 104k | $2.1M (exactly $2,080,959) | Burst2Flame Games |
| | Dwarves: Glory, Death and Loot | $14.99 | 2,588 82% | 78k | $1.2M (exactly $1,163,824) | Hamma Studios | |
 | Tales & Tactics | older | $17.99 | 1,737 80% | 52k | $937k (exactly $937,459) | Table 9 Studio |
 | Dungeon Drafters | older | $24.99 | 563 76% | 17k | $422k (exactly $422,081) | Manalith Studios |
 | Arcanium: Rise of Akhan | older | $19.99 | 670 81% | 20k | $402k (exactly $401,799) | Supercombo, Inc. |
 | Desktop Dungeons: Rewind | older | $19.99 | 501 75% | 15k | $300k (exactly $300,450) | QCF Design |
 | 👑 Idle Calibur 👑（选王之剑） | older | $7.99 | 1,242 85% | 37k | $298k (exactly $297,707) | 绝汪 |
 | Dead Grid | $12.99 | 504 93% | 15k | $196k (exactly $196,409) | Atom Void | |
 | Nightmare Frontier | $24.99 | 187 69% | 5.6k | $140k (exactly $140,194) | Ice Code Games | |
 | Bioweaver | $6.99 | 668 77% | 20k | $140k (exactly $140,080) | Emprom Game, Wild Kid Games | |
 | Entropy | · EA | $11.99 | 293 94% | 8.8k | $105k (exactly $105,392) | Lovely Hellplace |
 | Underboard | $14.99 | 181 74% | 5.4k | $81k (exactly $81,396) | Headless | |
 | Water Margin Scrolls | $9.99 | 244 40% | 7.3k | $73k (exactly $73,127) | QingHe Games | |
 | ANIWARS: Call of the Void | · EA | $12.99 | 184 93% | 5.5k | $72k (exactly $71,705) | Breaker Interactive |
 | Successor | $24.99 | 43 60% | 1.3k | $32k (exactly $32,237) | Playwood Project |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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