Do I ship it?

Games › Turn-Based Strategy › Turn-Based Strategy + Mechs

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Mech Turn-Based Strategy?

Turn-Based Strategy + Mechs

Of 33 developers who shipped a Mech Turn-Based Strategy 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, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $2.3k, ×3.7 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $2.8M, ×4489 the market median. Revenue is up 1990% on the market; 56 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.7 times the market baseline, revenue up 1990% on the market, 56 announced, ×2.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Turn-Based Strategy + Mechs
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 33
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $238k → $8.5k → $53k → $3.4k → $750 → $719 → $63k (still earning) → $1.8k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Turn-Based Strategy + Mechs: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 33
Bottom 30% $599 (exactly $599)
Median $2.3k (exactly $2,307)
Top 25% $54k (exactly $53,978)
Top 5% $2.8M (exactly $2,818,872)
Developers, 2 yr 33
Released games 95
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 1990% on the market, supply 55% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 17%, 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 Strategy
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 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 Strategy; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Turn-Based Tactics, Strategy, RPG
Price point
$14.99 typical · top 25% priced $34.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Anime, 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $34.99 or above; the middle game at $14.99.

The top 10 games average 85% positive over 23,205 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $600, median $2.3k, 1 in 4 over $53k, 1 in 20 over $2.8M.

3 in 10 developers made under $600. 6 in 10 of the 18 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 56 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + WuxiaFair12 devs · median $19k · 17 announced
  2. + Cold WarFair18 devs · median $9.9k · 22 announced
  3. + RomeFair15 devs · median $9.0k · 18 announced
  4. + LootFair86 devs · median $6.3k · 97 announced
  5. + MiningFair10 devs · median $4.5k · 14 announced
  6. + DwarvesFair7 devs · median $3.7k · 12 announced
  7. + IdlerFair50 devs · median $3.6k · 45 announced
  8. + Asynchronous MultiplayerFair43 devs · median $3.6k · 54 announced
  9. + TanksFair25 devs · median $3.0k · 24 announced
  10. + SokobanFair11 devs · median $2.1k · 11 announced
  11. + Top-Down ShooterFair13 devs · median $1.6k · 13 announced
  12. + SpaceFair107 devs · median $1.5k · 143 announced

All 187 pairs on the Turn-Based Strategy page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

BATTLETECH 2018 · $28M SD GUNDAM G GENERATION CROSS RAYS 2019 · $12M Super Robot Wars 30 2021 · $10M Into the Breach 2018 · $8.5M Mechabellum 2024 · $8.0M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
BATTLETECH older $39.99 23,024 84% 691k $28M (exactly $27,621,893) Harebrained Schemes
SD GUNDAM G GENERATION CROSS RAYS older $59.99 6,939 82% 208k $12M (exactly $12,488,118) TOM CREATE, 株式会社トムクリエイト
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
Mechabellum $14.99 17,856 84% 536k $8.0M (exactly $8,029,843) Game River
Phantom Brigade older $29.99 4,412 81% 132k $4.0M (exactly $3,969,476) Brace Yourself Games
StarVaders $24.99 3,760 97% 113k $2.8M (exactly $2,818,872) Pengonauts
Scythe: Digital Edition older $19.99 3,164 89% 95k $1.9M (exactly $1,897,451) The Knights of Unity
FRONT MISSION 1st: Remake older $34.99 745 77% 22k $782k (exactly $782,026) Forever Entertainment S. A.
FRONT MISSION 3: Remake $34.99 453 74% 14k $476k (exactly $475,514) MegaPixel Studio S.A.
NITRO GEN OMEGA $29.99 398 83% 12k $358k (exactly $358,081) DESTINYbit
Chaos Front $19.99 252 59% 7.6k $151k (exactly $151,124) Han Zhiyu
R-Type Tactics I • II Cosmos $49.99 94 82% 2.8k $141k (exactly $140,972) Granzella Inc.
Death Ring: Second Impact · EA $19.99 163 78% 4.9k $98k (exactly $97,751) Rouge Mecha
STARBITES $49.99 42 64% 1.3k $63k (exactly $62,987) IKINAGAMES
Bonaparte - A Mechanized Revolution $24.99 72 68% 2.2k $54k (exactly $53,978) Studio Imugi
ACE Strategy: Mecha Nova $14.99 115 78% 3.5k $52k (exactly $51,716) EMINA STUDIO

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