Do I ship it?

Games › Vehicular Combat › Vehicular Combat + Perma Death

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Perma Death Vehicular Combat game?

Vehicular Combat + Perma Death

Only 13 developers shipped a Perma Death Vehicular Combat 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, Tankenstein, 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, ×3.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.8k, ×2.9 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $120k, ×205 the market median. Revenue is up 1695% on the market; 26 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.9 times the market baseline, revenue up 1695% on the market, 26 announced, ×3.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Vehicular Combat + Perma Death
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 13
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.5k → $90 → $6.7k → $4.8k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Vehicular Combat + Perma Death: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 13
Bottom 30% $298 (exactly $298)
Median $1.8k (exactly $1,799)
Top 25% $4.8k (exactly $4,823)
Top 5% $128k (exactly $128,449)
Developers, 2 yr 13
Released games 38
Announced 26
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $4.99

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 1695% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 11%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Vehicular Combat
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Perma Death
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Vehicular Combat, Perma Death; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Roguelike, Action Roguelike
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Linear, Third Person
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 87% positive over 414 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $300, median $1.8k, 1 in 4 over $4.8k, 1 in 20 over $120k.

3 in 10 developers made under $300. 9 in 10 of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 26 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.7 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Vehicular Combat with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Looter ShooterFair11 devs · median $15k · 14 announced
  2. + BuildingPoor odds14 devs · median $303k · 40 announced
  3. + Online Co-OpPoor odds29 devs · median $62k · 75 announced
  4. + Co-opPoor odds38 devs · median $32k · 101 announced
  5. + HistoricalPoor odds16 devs · median $32k · 36 announced
  6. + CraftingPoor odds14 devs · median $20k · 43 announced
  7. + Open WorldPoor odds45 devs · median $15k · 97 announced
  8. + ManagementPoor odds21 devs · median $13k · 36 announced
  9. + SandboxPoor odds25 devs · median $10k · 70 announced
  10. + Real Time TacticsPoor odds20 devs · median $9.6k · 50 announced
  11. + ModernPoor odds18 devs · median $8.6k · 25 announced
  12. + MechsPoor odds24 devs · median $4.8k · 52 announced

All 98 pairs on the Vehicular Combat page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Sky Rogue 2017 · $635k Death Roads: Tournament 2023 · $328k Sublevel Zero Redux 2015 · $201k Tankenstein 2025 · EA · $128k Gearshifters 2021 · $64k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Sky Rogue older $19.99 1,059 92% 32k $635k (exactly $635,082) Fractal Phase
Death Roads: Tournament older $14.99 729 80% 22k $328k (exactly $327,831) The Knights of Unity
Sublevel Zero Redux older $14.99 448 85% 13k $201k (exactly $201,466) Sigtrap
Tankenstein · EA $17.99 238 89% 7.1k $128k (exactly $128,449) Landship Games LTD
Gearshifters older $24.99 85 80% 2.6k $64k (exactly $63,724) Red Phantom Games
Jetboard Joust older $9.99 63 82% 1.9k $19k (exactly $18,881) BitBull Ltd
Dead Hand older $19.99 31 80% 930 $19k (exactly $18,591) One Man Army Games
C.A.R.S. - Creating A Ridiculous Shitshow $7.99 40 97% 1.2k $9.6k (exactly $9,588) 3Dads Studios
Threads of War $4.99 45 97% 1.4k $6.7k (exactly $6,736) KoS
Vehicle No. 4 $6.99 23 86% 690 $4.8k (exactly $4,823) indiejoh
Asteroid Odyssey $4.99 30 36% 900 $4.5k (exactly $4,491) LampDog Studio
No Space For All $4.99 26 100% 780 $3.9k (exactly $3,892) Dudindie
The Chaser's Voyage $19.99 3 100% 90 $1.8k (exactly $1,799) Bright at Midnight: A Game Studio
There's Chaos! $4.99 3 100% 90 $449 (exactly $449) Pathfinders Forge Games
FUEL & FURY $9.99 1 0% 30 $300 (exactly $300) Rubicon Game Studios
Bubble Battle Blast 3D $1.99 5 100% 150 $298 (exactly $298) Ghost Train Games

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.