Do I ship it?

GamesTurn-Based CombatTurn-Based Combat + Mechs

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Mech Turn-Based Combat game?

Turn-Based Combat + Mechs

Of 26 developers who shipped a Mech Turn-Based Combat 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.. 56 more are announced, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $6.3k, ×10 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $720; 1 in 20 cleared $1.2M, ×1917 the market median. Revenue is up 1335% on the market; 56 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 10.0 times the market baseline, revenue up 1335% on the market, 56 announced, ×3.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Turn-Based Combat + Mechs
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 26
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $238k → $41k → $3.4k → $1.2M → $3.0k → $34k (still earning) → $2.3k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Turn-Based Combat + Mechs: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 26
Bottom 30% $719 (exactly $719)
Median $6.3k (exactly $6,294)
Top 25% $52k (exactly $51,716)
Top 5% $1.2M (exactly $1,203,999)
Developers, 2 yr 26
Released games 80
Announced 56
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $14.99

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 1335% on the market, supply 125% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 8%, 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.

Turn-Based Combat
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium 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
Turn-Based Combat; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Turn-Based Tactics, Party-Based RPG
Price point
$14.99 typical · top 25% priced $49.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Anime, 2D, Colorful
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $49.99 or above; the middle game at $14.99.

The top 10 games average 91% positive over 5,773 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $720, median $6.3k, 1 in 4 over $51k, 1 in 20 over $1.2M.

3 in 10 developers made under $720. 6 in 10 of the 10 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 56 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Turn-Based Combat with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + WuxiaStrong odds20 devs · median $19k · 21 announced
  2. + Hack and SlashStrong odds28 devs · median $3.7k · 27 announced
  3. + RomeFair8 devs · median $16k · 13 announced
  4. + CookingFair15 devs · median $6.0k · 22 announced
  5. + UndergroundFair18 devs · median $4.2k · 29 announced
  6. + IdlerFair52 devs · median $4.0k · 41 announced
  7. + DiceFair49 devs · median $2.2k · 59 announced
  8. + Traditional RoguelikeFair81 devs · median $1.4k · 107 announced
  9. + ArcadeFair59 devs · median $1.3k · 71 announced
  10. + Tower DefenseFair28 devs · median $839 · 34 announced
  11. + Artificial IntelligenceFair46 devs · median $719 · 52 announced
  12. + SolitaireFair26 devs · median $450 · 31 announced

All 175 pairs on the Turn-Based Combat page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Super Robot Wars 30 older $59.99 5,608 85% 168k $10M (exactly $10,092,718) Bandai Namco Forge Digitals Inc.
Into the Breach older $14.99 19,000 94% 570k $8.5M (exactly $8,544,300) Subset Games
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel older $39.99 5,131 94% 154k $6.2M (exactly $6,155,661) Nihon Falcom
Chained Echoes older $24.99 7,713 88% 231k $5.8M (exactly $5,782,436) Umami Tiger (Matthias Linda)
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III older $59.99 2,770 92% 83k $5.0M (exactly $4,985,169) Nihon Falcom, Engine Software BV, PH3 G… (Nihon Falcom, Engine Software BV, PH3 GmbH)
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV older $59.99 2,272 91% 68k $4.1M (exactly $4,088,918) Nihon Falcom, Engine Software BV, PH3 G… (Nihon Falcom, Engine Software BV, PH3 GmbH)
Phantom Brigade older $29.99 4,412 81% 132k $4.0M (exactly $3,969,476) Brace Yourself Games
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II older $39.99 2,746 92% 82k $3.3M (exactly $3,294,376) Nihon Falcom
StarVaders $24.99 3,760 97% 113k $2.8M (exactly $2,818,872) Pengonauts
Star Renegades older $24.99 2,673 82% 80k $2.0M (exactly $2,003,948) Massive Damage, Inc.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak II $59.99 669 83% 20k $1.2M (exactly $1,203,999) Nihon Falcom, PH3 GmbH
NITRO GEN OMEGA $29.99 398 83% 12k $358k (exactly $358,081) DESTINYbit
Battle Suit Aces $19.99 347 90% 10k $208k (exactly $208,096) Trinket Studios
Chaos Front $19.99 252 59% 7.6k $151k (exactly $151,124) Han Zhiyu
STARBITES $49.99 42 64% 1.3k $63k (exactly $62,987) IKINAGAMES
ACE Strategy: Mecha Nova $14.99 115 78% 3.5k $52k (exactly $51,716) EMINA STUDIO
ARC SEED $14.99 89 74% 2.7k $40k (exactly $40,023) Massive Galaxy Studios
Dosa Divas $19.99 56 94% 1.7k $34k (exactly $33,583) Outerloop Games
Deep Fringe · EA $19.99 45 88% 1.4k $27k (exactly $26,986) Bosoneon Studio

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