Games › Swordplay › Swordplay + Post-apocalyptic
Should I ship a Post-apocalyptic Swordplay game?
Swordplay + Post-apocalyptic
Only 9 developers shipped a Post-apocalyptic Swordplay 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, Beast of Reincarnation, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 41 more are announced, ×5.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $840, ×1.3 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $7.5M, ×12002 the market median. Revenue is up 699105% on the market; 41 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $150 (exactly $150) |
|---|---|
| Median | $836 (exactly $836) |
| Top 25% | $35k (exactly $34,783) |
| Top 5% | $7.5M (exactly $7,537,144) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 9 |
| Released games | 35 |
| Announced | 41 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 too few recent games to read momentum, supply 135% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 6%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Swordplay
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Post-apocalyptic
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Swordplay
- Price point
- $9.99 typical
Why players buy here
Fewer than 10 games in the last 2 years; sentiment and price figures use the all window.
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 180,046 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $150. 41 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.9 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Swordplay with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Visual NovelFair
- + Strategy RPGFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + DeckbuildingFair
- + Shoot 'Em UpLong shot
- + SamuraiPoor odds
- + JRPGPoor odds
- + Female ProtagonistPoor odds
- + FightingPoor odds
- + Co-opPoor odds
- + Base BuildingPoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Kenshi | older | $29.99 | 98,451 95% | 3.0M | $89M (exactly $88,576,365) | Lo-Fi Games |
| | Ghostrunner | older | $29.99 | 46,818 91% | 1.4M | $42M (exactly $42,122,155) | One More Level, 3D Realms, Slipgate Iro… (One More Level, 3D Realms, Slipgate Ironworks™, All in! Games) |
| | Last Oasis | · EA older | $29.99 | 20,443 63% | 613k | $18M (exactly $18,392,567) | Donkey Crew |
| | Ghostrunner 2 | older | $39.99 | 7,981 80% | 239k | $9.6M (exactly $9,574,806) | One More Level |
| | Beast of Reincarnation | $59.99 | 4,188 56% | 126k | $7.5M (exactly $7,537,144) | GAME FREAK inc. | |
| | 1348 Ex Voto | $24.99 | 705 53% | 21k | $529k (exactly $528,538) | Sedleo | |
| | Project MIKHAIL: A Muv-Luv War Story | older | $19.99 | 706 54% | 21k | $423k (exactly $423,388) | aNCHOR Inc., fuzz, Inc. |
| | Unsouled | older | $19.99 | 265 72% | 8.0k | $159k (exactly $158,920) | Megusta Game |
| | Feral Blue | · EA older | $19.99 | 239 51% | 7.2k | $143k (exactly $143,328) | Snowbird Games |
| | Knights Within | · EA older | $17.99 | 250 95% | 7.5k | $135k (exactly $134,925) | Indecision Labs |
| | Sancticide | $19.99 | 58 62% | 1.7k | $35k (exactly $34,783) | Red Square Games, Sylen Studio | |
| | ASHGARD: Infinity Mask | · EA | $9.99 | 13 84% | 390 | $3.9k (exactly $3,896) | ASHGARD GAMES |
| | One True Path - Part 1 | $1.99 | 14 100% | 420 | $836 (exactly $836) | InnerspaceVR | |
| | Fur and Void | $9.99 | 2 0% | 60 | $599 (exactly $599) | DFS | |
| | Residual Wilds | $4.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $150 (exactly $150) | Magic Art Hat | |
| | Battlement | $4.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | Henkdg | |
| | Monster Survival | $7.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | B Rees |
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.