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Should I ship a Pirate Turn-Based Combat game?
Turn-Based Combat + Pirates
Of 22 developers who shipped a Pirate Turn-Based Combat 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.. 41 more are announced, ×3.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $900, ×1.4 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $220k, ×357 the market median. Revenue is up 500% on the market; 41 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $150 (exactly $150) |
|---|---|
| Median | $898 (exactly $898) |
| Top 25% | $34k (exactly $33,736) |
| Top 5% | $224k (exactly $224,078) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 22 |
| Released games | 51 |
| Announced | 41 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $10.99 |
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 500% on the market, supply 45% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 16%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Turn-Based Combat
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Pirates
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Turn-Based Combat; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Turn-Based Strategy, Adventure, RPG
- Price point
- $10.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Isometric, Story Rich, Colorful
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $10.99.
The top 10 games average 76% positive over 2,035 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 41 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Turn-Based Combat with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + WuxiaStrong odds
- + Hack and SlashStrong odds
- + RomeFair
- + CookingFair
- + UndergroundFair
- + IdlerFair
- + DiceFair
- + Traditional RoguelikeFair
- + ArcadeFair
- + Tower DefenseFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + SolitaireFair
Comparable games
Ruined King: A League of Legends Story™ 2021 · $9.6M 
ONE PIECE ODYSSEY 2023 · $3.0M 
Port Royale 4 2020 · $1.7M 
Rogue Waters 2024 · $859k 
Horizon's Gate 2020 · $727k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Ruined King: A League of Legends Story™ | older | $29.99 | 10,623 88% | 319k | $9.6M (exactly $9,557,513) | Airship Syndicate |
| | ONE PIECE ODYSSEY | older | $39.99 | 2,502 78% | 75k | $3.0M (exactly $3,001,649) | ILCA, Inc. |
| | Port Royale 4 | older | $39.99 | 1,405 56% | 42k | $1.7M (exactly $1,685,578) | Gaming Minds |
| | Rogue Waters | $29.99 | 955 75% | 29k | $859k (exactly $859,214) | Ice Code Games | |
| | Horizon's Gate | older | $19.99 | 1,213 94% | 36k | $727k (exactly $727,436) | Rad Codex |
 | Adventure Time: Pirates of the Enchiridion | older | $24.99 | 944 91% | 28k | $708k (exactly $707,717) | Climax Studios |
 | Pirates Outlaws | older | $19.99 | 715 80% | 21k | $429k (exactly $428,785) | Fabled Game |
 | Nantucket | older | $17.99 | 782 78% | 23k | $422k (exactly $422,045) | Picaresque Games |
 | Rise of the Third Power | older | $19.99 | 489 88% | 15k | $293k (exactly $293,253) | Stegosoft Games |
 | Braveland Pirate | older | $19.99 | 421 87% | 13k | $252k (exactly $252,474) | Tortuga Team |
 | Dead Weight | $12.99 | 575 82% | 17k | $224k (exactly $224,078) | Klukva Games | |
 | Erannorth Renaissance | $19.99 | 186 81% | 5.6k | $112k (exactly $111,544) | Spyridon Thalassinos | |
 | Flint: Treasure of Oblivion | $24.99 | 92 51% | 2.8k | $69k (exactly $68,972) | Savage Level | |
 | Void Marauders | $13.99 | 106 77% | 3.2k | $44k (exactly $44,488) | Autarca | |
 | Sky Oceans: Wings for Hire | $24.99 | 45 64% | 1.4k | $34k (exactly $33,736) | Octeto Studios | |
 | Red Rogue Sea | $16.99 | 53 64% | 1.6k | $27k (exactly $27,014) | Firemage Studios | |
 | Sunken Stones | $11.99 | 14 100% | 420 | $5.0k (exactly $5,036) | Spritewrench | |
 | Becoming Captain - The Roguelike Deckbuilder | $10.99 | 7 100% | 210 | $2.3k (exactly $2,308) | Le Havre Création | |
 | Old Salt | $14.99 | 2 50% | 60 | $899 (exactly $899) | Kneeshaw Developments, Never Board Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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