Games › Open World › Open World + Tactical
Should I ship a Tactical Open World game?
Open World + Tactical
Of 80 developers who shipped a Tactical Open World 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.. 206 more are announced, ×4.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $5.1k, ×3.4 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $840; 1 in 20 cleared $2.3M, ×1584 the market median. Revenue is up 50% on the market; 206 games are announced against 42 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $839 (exactly $839) |
|---|---|
| Median | $5.1k (exactly $5,066) |
| Top 25% | $58k (exactly $58,455) |
| Top 5% | $2.4M (exactly $2,372,800) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 80 |
| Released games | 343 |
| Announced | 206 |
| Effort | 8 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $12.99 |
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 50% on the market, supply 10% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 15%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Open World
- effort 8 / 10 · low · effort 8 sits in the low band
- Tactical
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 8 / 10 · online systems, open world
- Systems
- Open World, Tactical; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Strategy, Action
- Price point
- $12.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Realistic
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $12.99.
The top 10 games average 82% positive over 74,335 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $840. 8 in 10 of the 46 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 206 games are announced against 42 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.9 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Open World with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + WuxiaFair
- + 4 Player LocalFair
- + VampiresFair
- + TrainsFair
- + FMVFair
- + GothicFair
- + MarsFair
- + TanksFair
- + FaithLong shot
- + DiplomacyPoor odds
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
- + Co-op CampaignPoor odds
Comparable games
Hearts of Iron IV 2016 · $412M 
Arma 3 2013 · $206M 
Hunt: Showdown 1896 2019 · $192M 
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon® Wildlands 2017 · $149M 
Sniper Elite 4 2017 · $98M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Hearts of Iron IV | older | $49.99 | 274,901 90% | 8.2M | $412M (exactly $412,269,030) | Paradox Development Studio |
| | Arma 3 | older | $29.99 | 228,910 90% | 6.9M | $206M (exactly $205,950,327) | Bohemia Interactive |
| | Hunt: Showdown 1896 | older | $29.99 | 213,023 74% | 6.4M | $192M (exactly $191,656,793) | Crytek |
| | Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon® Wildlands | older | $49.99 | 99,590 78% | 3.0M | $149M (exactly $149,355,123) | Ubisoft Paris, Ubisoft Annecy, Ubisoft… (Ubisoft Paris, Ubisoft Annecy, Ubisoft Bucharest, Ubisoft Montpellier, Ubisoft Milan, Reflections, Ubisoft Belgrade) |
| | Sniper Elite 4 | older | $59.99 | 54,258 91% | 1.6M | $98M (exactly $97,648,123) | Rebellion |
 | Insurgency: Sandstorm | older | $29.99 | 104,168 85% | 3.1M | $94M (exactly $93,719,950) | New World Interactive |
 | Battlefield 4™ | older | $39.99 | 69,373 84% | 2.1M | $83M (exactly $83,226,788) | DICE |
 | Gray Zone Warfare | · EA older | $39.99 | 69,146 72% | 2.1M | $83M (exactly $82,954,456) | MADFINGER Games, a.s. |
 | Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon® Breakpoint | older | $59.99 | 44,635 72% | 1.3M | $80M (exactly $80,329,610) | Ubisoft Paris |
 | Assassin's Creed® Unity | older | $29.99 | 79,116 77% | 2.4M | $71M (exactly $71,180,665) | Ubisoft |
 | WARDOGS | · EA | $39.99 | 58,250 81% | 1.7M | $70M (exactly $69,882,525) | BULKHEAD |
 | Master of Command | $29.99 | 3,840 92% | 115k | $3.5M (exactly $3,454,848) | Armchair Interactive | |
 | Psycho Patrol R | · EA | $39.99 | 2,090 88% | 63k | $2.5M (exactly $2,507,373) | Consumer Softproducts |
 | Gunsmith Simulator | $24.99 | 3,165 84% | 95k | $2.4M (exactly $2,372,800) | GameHunters | |
 | Age of Reforging: The Freelands | $29.99 | 2,291 71% | 69k | $2.1M (exactly $2,061,213) | PersonaeGame Studio | |
 | Stellar Tactics | $24.99 | 1,666 77% | 50k | $1.2M (exactly $1,249,000) | Don Wilkins | |
 | Beastieball | · EA | $24.99 | 1,483 97% | 44k | $1.1M (exactly $1,111,805) | Wishes Ultd. |
 | Survive the Fall | $24.99 | 590 65% | 18k | $442k (exactly $442,323) | Angry Bulls Studio | |
 | Modern Naval Warfare | · EA | $59.99 | 237 58% | 7.1k | $427k (exactly $426,529) | Wave Ops |
 | Approaching Infinity | $17.99 | 723 95% | 22k | $390k (exactly $390,203) | IBOL |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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