Games › Open World › Open World + Turn-Based
Should I ship a Turn-Based Open World game?
Open World + Turn-Based
Only 14 developers shipped a Turn-Based Open World game 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, Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 26 more are announced, ×2.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $57k, ×38 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $17k; 1 in 20 cleared $11M, ×7856 the market median. Revenue is down 75% on the market; 26 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $17k (exactly $16,546) |
|---|---|
| Median | $57k (exactly $56,662) |
| Top 25% | $151k (exactly $151,124) |
| Top 5% | $12M (exactly $11,768,818) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 14 |
| Released games | 167 |
| Announced | 26 |
| Effort | 8 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $19.99 |
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 75% on the market, supply 80% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 8%, 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
- Turn-Based
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 8 / 10 · online systems, open world
- Systems
- Open World, Turn-Based; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Turn-Based Combat, Character Customization
- Price point
- $19.99 typical · top 25% priced $69.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Anime, Pixel Graphics, Story Rich
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $69.99 or above; the middle game at $19.99.
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 18,864 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $17k. 2 in 10 of the 5 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 26 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 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
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | South Park™: The Stick of Truth™ | older | $29.99 | 60,770 97% | 1.8M | $55M (exactly $54,674,769) | Obsidian Entertainment |
| | Wartales | older | $34.99 | 32,118 86% | 964k | $34M (exactly $33,714,265) | Shiro Games |
| | HUMANKIND™ | older | $49.99 | 22,165 68% | 665k | $33M (exactly $33,240,850) | AMPLITUDE Studios |
| | Divinity: Original Sin - Enhanced Edition | older | $39.99 | 27,485 88% | 825k | $33M (exactly $32,973,754) | Larian Studios |
| | South Park™: The Fractured But Whole™ | older | $29.99 | 31,985 85% | 960k | $29M (exactly $28,776,904) | Ubisoft San Francisco |
| | Wandering Sword | older | $24.99 | 37,034 94% | 1.1M | $28M (exactly $27,764,390) | The Swordman Studio |
| | Stoneshard | · EA older | $24.99 | 34,149 74% | 1.0M | $26M (exactly $25,601,505) | Ink Stains Games |
| | OCTOPATH TRAVELER™ | older | $59.99 | 13,923 85% | 418k | $25M (exactly $25,057,223) | Square Enix, ACQUIRE Corp. |
| | OCTOPATH TRAVELER II | older | $59.99 | 13,407 93% | 402k | $24M (exactly $24,128,578) | Square Enix, ACQUIRE Corp. |
| | ENDLESS Space™ 2 | older | $39.99 | 17,280 83% | 518k | $21M (exactly $20,730,816) | AMPLITUDE Studios |
| | Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection | $69.99 | 5,605 77% | 168k | $12M (exactly $11,768,818) | CAPCOM Co., Ltd. | |
| | Caves of Qud | $29.99 | 11,892 94% | 357k | $11M (exactly $10,699,232) | Freehold Games | |
| | 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 | |
| | The Edge of Allegoria | $19.99 | 188 87% | 5.6k | $113k (exactly $112,744) | Button Factory Games | |
| | Glorious Companions | $19.99 | 182 61% | 5.5k | $109k (exactly $109,145) | Ancient Forge | |
| | Tomomon | $14.99 | 126 70% | 3.8k | $57k (exactly $56,662) | ManicBuild Studio | |
| | Lords of Ravage | $9.99 | 138 66% | 4.1k | $41k (exactly $41,359) | Synthetic Domain | |
| | KAMiBAKO - Mythology of Cube - | $29.99 | 37 64% | 1.1k | $33k (exactly $33,289) | GRAVITY GAME ARISE | |
| | Ruinlander | · EA | $11.99 | 46 69% | 1.4k | $17k (exactly $16,546) | wineviper |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.