Games › Tactical › Tactical + Naval
Should I ship a Naval Tactical game?
Tactical + Naval
Of 35 developers who shipped a Naval Tactical 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.. 43 more are announced.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $960, ×1.5 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $480; 1 in 20 cleared $790k, ×1266 the market median. Revenue is down 35% on the market; 43 games are announced against 23 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $479 (exactly $479) |
|---|---|
| Median | $955 (exactly $955) |
| Top 25% | $36k (exactly $35,988) |
| Top 5% | $795k (exactly $795,335) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 35 |
| Released games | 100 |
| Announced | 43 |
| 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 35% on the market, supply 75% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 13%, 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
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Tactical; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Simulation, Wargame
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $39.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $39.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 78% positive over 3,299 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $480. 8 in 10 of the 13 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 43 games are announced against 23 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Tactical with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Football (American)Strong odds
- + Mystery DungeonStrong odds
- + Dating SimFair
- + 6DOFFair
- + Word GameFair
- + TypingFair
- + DwarvesFair
- + Traditional RoguelikeFair
- + Dynamic NarrationFair
- + Farming SimFair
- + SolitaireFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
Comparable games
Holdfast: Nations At War 2020 · $16M 
Wargame: Red Dragon 2014 · $14M 
Total War: EMPIRE – Definitive Edition 2009 · $13M 
Total War: NAPOLEON – Definitive Edition 2010 · $11M 
Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 2 2019 · $5.8M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Holdfast: Nations At War | older | $19.99 | 26,624 90% | 799k | $16M (exactly $15,966,413) | Anvil Game Studios |
| | Wargame: Red Dragon | older | $29.99 | 15,758 88% | 473k | $14M (exactly $14,177,473) | Eugen Systems |
| | Total War: EMPIRE – Definitive Edition | older | $19.99 | 21,302 89% | 639k | $13M (exactly $12,774,809) | CREATIVE ASSEMBLY, Feral Interactive (M… (CREATIVE ASSEMBLY, Feral Interactive (Mac), Feral Interactive (Linux)) |
| | Total War: NAPOLEON – Definitive Edition | older | $19.99 | 18,004 91% | 540k | $11M (exactly $10,796,999) | CREATIVE ASSEMBLY, Feral Interactive (M… (CREATIVE ASSEMBLY, Feral Interactive (Mac)) |
| | Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 2 | older | $19.99 | 9,701 74% | 291k | $5.8M (exactly $5,817,690) | Tindalos Interactive |
 | Cold Waters | older | $39.99 | 4,603 87% | 138k | $5.5M (exactly $5,522,219) | Killerfish Games |
 | Battlefleet Gothic: Armada (Classic) | older | $14.99 | 5,135 68% | 154k | $2.3M (exactly $2,309,210) | Tindalos Interactive |
 | SteamWorld Heist II | older | $29.99 | 2,201 93% | 66k | $2.0M (exactly $1,980,240) | Thunderful Development |
 | ICBM | older | $19.99 | 1,655 91% | 50k | $993k (exactly $992,503) | SoftWarWare, K-Project |
 | Abandon Ship | older | $24.99 | 1,151 71% | 35k | $863k (exactly $862,905) | Fireblade Software |
 | Rogue Waters | $29.99 | 955 75% | 29k | $859k (exactly $859,214) | Ice Code Games | |
 | KAISERPUNK | $29.99 | 884 71% | 27k | $795k (exactly $795,335) | Overseer Games | |
 | Task Force Admiral - Vol.1: American Carrier Battles | · EA | $39.99 | 633 87% | 19k | $759k (exactly $759,410) | Drydock Dreams Games |
 | Modern Naval Warfare | · EA | $59.99 | 237 58% | 7.1k | $427k (exactly $426,529) | Wave Ops |
 | BattleGroupVR2 | · EA | $24.99 | 209 85% | 6.3k | $157k (exactly $156,687) | SpaceOwl Games |
 | Silent Shark | $17.99 | 125 98% | 3.8k | $67k (exactly $67,462) | John Goering | |
 | 大戦略SSB2 | $59.99 | 36 66% | 1.1k | $65k (exactly $64,789) | Systemsoft beta, Inc. | |
 | MORSE | $13.99 | 124 93% | 3.7k | $52k (exactly $52,043) | ALJO Games | |
 | Sunrider Legends Tactics | $29.99 | 40 80% | 1.2k | $36k (exactly $35,988) | Love in Space | |
 | Tactical Annihilation | $15.99 | 56 98% | 1.7k | $27k (exactly $26,863) | B.G. Game Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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