Games › Wargame › Wargame + Procedural Generation
Should I ship a Procedural Generation Wargame?
Wargame + Procedural Generation
Of 38 developers who shipped a Procedural Generation Wargame 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.. 71 more are announced, ×3.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.8k, ×2.9 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $300k, ×491 the market median. Revenue is up 275% on the market; 71 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $359 (exactly $359) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.8k (exactly $1,799) |
| Top 25% | $11k (exactly $10,778) |
| Top 5% | $308k (exactly $308,044) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 38 |
| Released games | 101 |
| Announced | 71 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 275% on the market, supply 10% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 8%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Wargame
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Procedural Generation
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Wargame, Procedural Generation; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, RTS, Simulation
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Stylized
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 5,474 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $360. 8 in 10 of the 18 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 71 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.6 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Wargame with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Inventory ManagementFair
- + Local MultiplayerFair
- + NavalFair
- + TabletopFair
- + LogicFair
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
- + Real-TimePoor odds
- + Co-opPoor odds
- + StealthPoor odds
- + DiplomacyPoor odds
- + Colony SimPoor odds
- + SandboxPoor odds
Comparable games
Sprocket 2021 · EA · $7.4M 
Master of Command 2025 · $3.5M 
Urtuk: The Desolation 2021 · $1.0M 
Fantasy Map Simulator 2024 · EA · $1.0M 
Warriors of the Nile 2020 · $940k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Sprocket | · EA older | $19.99 | 12,336 92% | 370k | $7.4M (exactly $7,397,899) | Hamish Dunn |
| | Master of Command | $29.99 | 3,840 92% | 115k | $3.5M (exactly $3,454,848) | Armchair Interactive | |
| | Urtuk: The Desolation | older | $13.99 | 2,408 87% | 72k | $1.0M (exactly $1,010,638) | David Kaleta |
| | Fantasy Map Simulator | · EA older | $7.99 | 4,190 89% | 126k | $1.0M (exactly $1,004,343) | The Stranger |
| | Warriors of the Nile | older | $12.99 | 2,412 79% | 72k | $940k (exactly $939,956) | Stove Studio |
 | Destroyer: The U-Boat Hunter | older | $29.99 | 852 73% | 26k | $767k (exactly $766,544) | Iron Wolf Studio S.A. |
 | Horizon | older | $29.99 | 377 58% | 11k | $339k (exactly $339,187) | L3O Interactive |
 | IDUN - Frontline Survival | $14.99 | 685 77% | 21k | $308k (exactly $308,044) | IDUN Interactive | |
 | Ultimate Arena | older | $7.99 | 811 83% | 24k | $194k (exactly $194,397) | Triverske |
 | Armoured Commander II | older | $9.99 | 587 98% | 18k | $176k (exactly $175,924) | Gregory Adam Scott |
 | Eyes of War | $14.99 | 268 77% | 8.0k | $121k (exactly $120,520) | Good Mood Games | |
 | DSS 2: War Industry | $17.99 | 183 83% | 5.5k | $99k (exactly $98,765) | vikingfabian | |
 | Solar Wave | · EA | $17.99 | 80 75% | 2.4k | $43k (exactly $43,176) | SavGus Studio |
 | Sanguo's Ambition 4 :Three Kingdoms | $9.99 | 101 68% | 3.0k | $30k (exactly $30,270) | Youshen Interactive | |
 | Demigoddess! | $6.99 | 111 97% | 3.3k | $23k (exactly $23,277) | SNP Engineering | |
 | Kiloton | $6.99 | 103 96% | 3.1k | $22k (exactly $21,599) | Jack Morehart | |
 | Earth of Oryn | · EA | $14.99 | 31 64% | 930 | $14k (exactly $13,941) | Earth of Oryn |
 | Hijong Park's Defender Patrol | $4.99 | 72 98% | 2.2k | $11k (exactly $10,778) | Hijong Park |
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.