Games › Open World › Open World + Vehicular Combat
Should I ship a Vehicular Combat Open World game?
Open World + Vehicular Combat
Of 45 developers who shipped a Vehicular Combat 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.. 97 more are announced, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $15k, ×10 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $720; 1 in 20 cleared $22M, ×15301 the market median. Revenue is up 3640% on the market; 97 games are announced against 31 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $718 (exactly $718) |
|---|---|
| Median | $15k (exactly $15,290) |
| Top 25% | $439k (exactly $438,542) |
| Top 5% | $23M (exactly $22,921,415) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 45 |
| Released games | 136 |
| Announced | 97 |
| Effort | 8 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| 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 3640% on the market, supply 120% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 10%, 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
- Vehicular Combat
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 8 / 10 · online systems, open world
- Systems
- Open World, Vehicular Combat; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Shooter, Exploration
- Price point
- $14.99 typical · top 25% priced $39.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, Third Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $39.99 or above; the middle game at $14.99.
The top 10 games average 79% positive over 128,827 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $720. 7 in 10 of the 16 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 97 games are announced against 31 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | WARDOGS | · EA | $39.99 | 58,250 81% | 1.7M | $70M (exactly $69,882,525) | BULKHEAD |
| | Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced | $59.99 | 26,652 81% | 800k | $48M (exactly $47,965,604) | Ubisoft Singapore, Ubisoft Barcelona, U… (Ubisoft Singapore, Ubisoft Barcelona, Ubisoft Bordeaux, Ubisoft Belgrade, Ubisoft Chengdu, Ubisoft India, Ubisoft Kyiv, Ubisoft Montpellier, Ubisoft Philippines, Ubisoft Quebec, Ubisoft Shanghai, Ubisoft Montreal, Ubisoft Romania) | |
| | Mad Max | older | $19.99 | 57,651 91% | 1.7M | $35M (exactly $34,573,305) | Avalanche Studios |
| | Trailmakers | older | $24.99 | 33,465 92% | 1.0M | $25M (exactly $25,088,710) | Flashbulb |
| | Need for Speed™ Payback | older | $29.99 | 27,424 85% | 823k | $25M (exactly $24,673,373) | Ghost Games |
| | Tokyo Xtreme Racer | $49.99 | 15,284 93% | 459k | $23M (exactly $22,921,415) | Genki Co., Ltd. | |
| | RAGE 2 | older | $39.99 | 14,019 64% | 421k | $17M (exactly $16,818,594) | id Software, Avalanche Studios |
| | TerraTech | older | $24.99 | 20,564 92% | 617k | $15M (exactly $15,416,831) | Payload Studios |
| | Need for Speed™ Most Wanted | older | $19.99 | 25,197 77% | 756k | $15M (exactly $15,110,641) | Criterion Games |
| | Need for Speed™ Hot Pursuit Remastered | older | $29.99 | 13,583 81% | 407k | $12M (exactly $12,220,625) | Stellar Entertainment Limited |
| | SAND: Raiders of Sophie | · EA | $24.99 | 12,485 49% | 375k | $9.4M (exactly $9,360,004) | Hologryph, TowerHaus |
| | Wreckfest 2 | · EA | $34.99 | 5,578 73% | 167k | $5.9M (exactly $5,855,227) | Bugbear |
| | Lost Skies | $24.99 | 2,470 63% | 74k | $1.9M (exactly $1,851,759) | Bossa Studios | |
| | FUMES | · EA | $14.99 | 2,816 95% | 84k | $1.3M (exactly $1,266,355) | FUMES team |
| | Killer Bean | · EA | $14.99 | 2,272 73% | 68k | $1.0M (exactly $1,021,718) | Killer Bean Studios LLC |
| | SimplePlanes 2 | · EA | $19.99 | 1,316 92% | 39k | $789k (exactly $789,205) | Jundroo, LLC |
| | Vietnam War | · EA | $14.99 | 1,704 84% | 51k | $766k (exactly $766,289) | Thorium Game Lab |
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.