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Should I ship a Mars Strategy game?
Strategy + Mars
Of 20 developers who shipped a Mars 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.. 42 more are announced, ×4.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $11k, ×18 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $2.6M, ×4207 the market median. Revenue is up 2270% on the market; 42 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $449 (exactly $449) |
|---|---|
| Median | $11k (exactly $11,252) |
| Top 25% | $268k (exactly $267,617) |
| Top 5% | $2.6M (exactly $2,641,739) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 20 |
| Released games | 76 |
| Announced | 42 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $11.99 |
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 2270% on the market, supply 20% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 8%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Strategy; all of the top 25% also carry Base Building, Colony Sim, Management
- Price point
- $11.99 typical · top 25% priced $39.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Realistic
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $39.99 or above; the middle game at $11.99.
The top 10 games average 77% positive over 8,079 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $450. 8 in 10 of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 42 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.7 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Strategy with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + BaseballFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + WuxiaFair
- + FarmingFair
- + Martial ArtsFair
- + SubmarineFair
- + NavalFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Shop KeeperFair
- + HackingFair
Comparable games
Per Aspera 2020 · $3.7M 
Terraforming Mars 2018 · $3.1M 
Surviving Mars: Relaunched 2025 · $2.6M 
Plan B: Terraform 2025 · $1.7M 
Mars Horizon 2020 · $1.7M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Per Aspera | older | $29.99 | 4,105 76% | 123k | $3.7M (exactly $3,693,268) | Tlön Industries |
| | Terraforming Mars | older | $19.99 | 5,194 71% | 156k | $3.1M (exactly $3,114,842) | Artefacts Studio |
| | Surviving Mars: Relaunched | $39.99 | 2,202 55% | 66k | $2.6M (exactly $2,641,739) | Haemimont Games | |
| | Plan B: Terraform | $15.99 | 3,526 91% | 106k | $1.7M (exactly $1,691,422) | Gaddy Games | |
| | Mars Horizon | older | $19.99 | 2,757 84% | 83k | $1.7M (exactly $1,653,373) | Auroch Digital |
 | Solargene | $34.99 | 777 77% | 23k | $816k (exactly $815,617) | Alexander Semenov | |
 | Tharsis | older | $14.99 | 1,438 71% | 43k | $647k (exactly $646,669) | Choice Provisions |
 | MarZ: Tactical Base Defense | older | $21.99 | 808 77% | 24k | $533k (exactly $533,038) | Giant Grey |
 | Calyx | · EA | $24.99 | 471 88% | 14k | $353k (exactly $353,109) | Studio 568 |
 | Stellar Settlers: Space Base Builder | $11.99 | 744 69% | 22k | $268k (exactly $267,617) | Tinymice Entertainment | |
 | Utopia Colony | $16.99 | 99 63% | 3.0k | $50k (exactly $50,460) | GridSky Studios | |
 | Earth vs Mars | $14.99 | 74 85% | 2.2k | $33k (exactly $33,278) | Relic Entertainment | |
 | SpaceCorp: 2025-2300AD | $9.99 | 73 83% | 2.2k | $22k (exactly $21,878) | Logix Interactive | |
 | Dissent on Mars | $29.99 | 19 47% | 570 | $17k (exactly $17,094) | Michael Hicks, Gonçalo Antunes | |
 | outpost4 | $3.99 | 94 72% | 2.8k | $11k (exactly $11,252) | BananaDogGames |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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