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Should I ship a Management Trading Card Game?
Trading Card Game + Management
Of 38 developers who shipped a Management Trading Card 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.. 47 more are announced.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.5k, ×2.4 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $710k, ×1134 the market median. Revenue is down 45% on the market; 47 games are announced against 27 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $450 (exactly $450) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.5k (exactly $1,525) |
| Top 25% | $16k (exactly $16,147) |
| Top 5% | $712k (exactly $712,358) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 38 |
| Released games | 68 |
| Announced | 47 |
| 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 45% on the market, supply 125% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 18%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Trading Card Game
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Management
- 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
- Trading Card Game, Management; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Collectathon, Immersive Sim
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $15.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $15.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 95% positive over 52,756 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $450. 7 in 10 of the 15 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 47 games are announced against 27 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Trading Card Game with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Immersive SimStrong odds
- + SandboxFair
- + Inventory ManagementFair
- + Procedural GenerationPoor odds
- + TradingPoor odds
- + Life SimPoor odds
- + CollectathonPoor odds
- + HistoricalPoor odds
- + Co-opPoor odds
- + Auto BattlerPoor odds
- + Roguelike DeckbuilderPoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | TCG Card Shop Simulator | $19.99 | 47,357 96% | 1.4M | $28M (exactly $28,399,993) | OPNeon Games | |
| | Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions | older | $59.99 | 5,072 73% | 152k | $9.1M (exactly $9,128,078) | TAMSOFT CORPORATION |
| | Out of the Park Baseball 27 | $49.99 | 475 82% | 14k | $712k (exactly $712,358) | Out of the Park Developments | |
| | Supercar Collection Simulator | $12.99 | 1,528 85% | 46k | $595k (exactly $595,462) | Kiki Games | |
| | Card Shop Simulator Multiplayer | $11.99 | 1,609 82% | 48k | $579k (exactly $578,757) | ShaneGame | |
| | Rogue Voltage | $15.99 | 593 92% | 18k | $284k (exactly $284,462) | Horizont Computergrafik | |
| | Anime Shop Simulator ✨ | $14.99 | 589 73% | 18k | $265k (exactly $264,873) | One More Time | |
| | Gnomes Garden | older | $14.99 | 262 87% | 7.9k | $118k (exactly $117,821) | Workroom7, Creobit |
| | TCG Multiplayer Card Shop Simulator | · EA | $12.99 | 198 54% | 5.9k | $77k (exactly $77,161) | Alkame Games |
| | Vertical Kingdom | older | $19.99 | 113 75% | 3.4k | $68k (exactly $67,766) | Farlight Games Industry |
| | Sports Card Shop Simulator | · EA | $12.99 | 155 92% | 4.7k | $60k (exactly $60,404) | OverPowered Team |
| | Table Battle Simulator | · EA | $12.99 | 85 74% | 2.6k | $33k (exactly $33,124) | Kiki Games |
| | FeeBay Simulator | $5.99 | 167 91% | 5.0k | $30k (exactly $30,010) | Lake Country Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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