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Should I ship a Modern-Day Tactical RPG?
Tactical RPG + Modern
Only 13 developers shipped a Modern-Day Tactical RPG in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, VARLET, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 17 more are announced, ×3.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $680, ×1.1 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $210; 1 in 20 cleared $210k, ×347 the market median. Revenue is down 90% on the market; 17 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $210 (exactly $210) |
|---|---|
| Median | $684 (exactly $684) |
| Top 25% | $7.7k (exactly $7,727) |
| Top 5% | $218k (exactly $217,764) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 13 |
| Released games | 35 |
| Announced | 17 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 90% on the market, supply 45% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 23%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Tactical RPG
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Modern
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Tactical RPG; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Choices Matter, Choose Your Own Adventure
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $59.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, 3D, Colorful
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $59.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 63% positive over 299 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $210. 9 in 10 of the 11 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 17 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.4 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Tactical RPG with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Roguelike DeckbuilderFair
- + Mystery DungeonFair
- + Space SimFair
- + Point & ClickFair
- + 2D PlatformerFair
- + Asynchronous MultiplayerPoor odds
- + Colony SimPoor odds
- + SandboxPoor odds
- + Turn-BasedPoor odds
- + RobotsPoor odds
- + RomancePoor odds
- + WarPoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | 大千世界 | older | $3.99 | 2,289 86% | 69k | $274k (exactly $273,993) | 滑稽工作室 |
| | VARLET | $59.99 | 121 47% | 3.6k | $218k (exactly $217,764) | FURYU CORPORATION | |
| | Terrain of Magical Expertise | older | $19.99 | 106 83% | 3.2k | $64k (exactly $63,568) | NEO-C Productions L.L.C |
| | AbsentedAge: Squarebound | older | $12.99 | 67 91% | 2.0k | $26k (exactly $26,110) | terunon's Lab |
| | SkullX: Aibohphobia | $9.99 | 76 90% | 2.3k | $23k (exactly $22,777) | SkullX, DSTRCT Creatives | |
| | Status One | $14.99 | 30 73% | 900 | $13k (exactly $13,491) | LastCall Studio | |
| | Survival Africa | older | $16.99 | 22 36% | 660 | $11k (exactly $11,213) | MeanDean |
| | AbsentedAge 2: Ghostbound | older | $12.99 | 24 100% | 720 | $9.4k (exactly $9,353) | terunon's Lab |
| | SAD RPG: A Social Anxiety Role Playing Game | · EA older | $7.99 | 37 51% | 1.1k | $8.9k (exactly $8,869) | Evil Indie Games |
| | 中年失业模拟器2-When a man lose his job 2 | $5.99 | 43 60% | 1.3k | $7.7k (exactly $7,727) | Kwing works | |
| | Climber Girl | $7.99 | 19 36% | 570 | $4.6k (exactly $4,554) | AlterLab Development | |
| | Metaneurosis | $14.99 | 2 100% | 60 | $899 (exactly $899) | Lazy Dev Studio | |
| | Lang Ops: Modern Greek (intro to learn language) | $5.70 | 4 75% | 120 | $684 (exactly $684) | Strange Volume Project | |
| | Critternauts | $7.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $240 (exactly $240) | Gergo V | |
| | HexArmy | · EA | $3.99 | 2 50% | 60 | $239 (exactly $239) | Nechtan |
| | Fake Ducks: Spooky Chronicles | $6.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $210 (exactly $210) | Mattia De Berardinis |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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