Do I ship it?

Games › Tower Defense › Tower Defense + Mechs

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Mech Tower Defense?

Tower Defense + Mechs

Of 24 developers who shipped a Mech Tower Defense 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.. 24 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.5k, ×2.3 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $50. Revenue is down 25% on the market; 24 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.3 times the market baseline, revenue down 25% on the market, 24 announced, ×1.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Tower Defense + Mechs
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 24
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $899 → $7.9k → $599 → $23k → $989 (still earning) → $1.5k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Tower Defense + Mechs: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 24
Bottom 30% $0 (exactly $0)
Median $1.5k (exactly $1,468)
Top 25% $24k (exactly $23,747)
Top 5% $164k (exactly $164,318)
Developers, 2 yr 24
Released games 57
Announced 24
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 25% on the market, supply 200% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 4%, 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.

Tower Defense
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
Mechs
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Tower Defense; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Combat, Roguelike
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Pixel Graphics, 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 76% positive over 3,032 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $50, median $1.5k, 1 in 4 over $23k, 1 in 20 over $160k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. 8 in 10 of the 6 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 24 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Tower Defense with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + DwarvesStrong odds10 devs · median $6.7k · 9 announced
  2. + MiningFair33 devs · median $6.3k · 45 announced
  3. + Survival HorrorFair14 devs · median $1.9k · 16 announced
  4. + CapitalismFair15 devs · median $1.6k · 20 announced
  5. + TanksFair14 devs · median $1.5k · 13 announced
  6. + IdlerFair108 devs · median $1.2k · 136 announced
  7. + PuzzleFair64 devs · median $1.0k · 67 announced
  8. + Gun CustomizationFair26 devs · median $958 · 32 announced
  9. + LogicFair40 devs · median $955 · 44 announced
  10. + On-Rails ShooterFair11 devs · median $899 · 12 announced
  11. + Psychological HorrorFair8 devs · median $897 · 8 announced
  12. + Turn-Based CombatFair28 devs · median $839 · 34 announced

All 150 pairs on the Tower Defense page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Legion TD 2 - Multiplayer Tower Defense 2021 · $9.5M Wall World 2023 · $2.4M Rusted Warfare - RTS 2017 · $991k Cavalry Girls 2023 · $675k Wall World 2 2025 · $629k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Legion TD 2 - Multiplayer Tower Defense older $24.99 12,607 86% 378k $9.5M (exactly $9,451,468) AutoAttack Games
Wall World older $6.99 11,353 90% 341k $2.4M (exactly $2,380,724) Alawar
Rusted Warfare - RTS older $4.99 6,619 96% 199k $991k (exactly $990,864) Corroding Games
Cavalry Girls older $11.99 1,877 88% 56k $675k (exactly $675,157) 中子星游戏研究所
Wall World 2 $11.99 1,749 73% 52k $629k (exactly $629,115) Alawar
Iron Brigade older $14.99 909 86% 27k $409k (exactly $408,777) Double Fine Productions
Octogeddon older $8.88 1,298 92% 39k $346k (exactly $345,787) All Yes Good
Mechs V Kaijus - Tower Defense older $12.99 511 83% 15k $199k (exactly $199,137) Doble Punch Games
Grit and Valor - 1949 $19.99 274 75% 8.2k $164k (exactly $164,318) Milky Tea Studios
Repel The Rifts · EA $12.99 347 85% 10k $135k (exactly $135,226) RefinedBearGames
Mech Fortress $7.99 239 85% 7.2k $57k (exactly $57,288) Some Sugar Studio
WARSHIFT 2 $19.99 54 70% 1.6k $32k (exactly $32,384) Cyril Megem
IRON GUARD: Salvation $17.99 44 93% 1.3k $24k (exactly $23,747) Xlab Digital
Ocean Keeper Co-op Drill Multiplayer $5.99 129 75% 3.9k $23k (exactly $23,181) RetroStyle Games
Ghosts Keep Out $3.99 130 75% 3.9k $16k (exactly $15,561) Only Fun Games
Temporal Titans · EA $9.99 44 95% 1.3k $13k (exactly $13,187) Lost Tower Games
Exo Wanderers · EA $11.99 22 100% 660 $7.9k (exactly $7,913) 什工坊SueStudio

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