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Should I ship a Resource Management Wargame?
Wargame + Resource Management
Of 100 developers who shipped a Resource Management 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.. 213 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 $3.4k, ×5.3 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $900; 1 in 20 cleared $790k, ×1266 the market median. Revenue is up 110% on the market; 213 games are announced against 59 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $899 (exactly $899) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.4k (exactly $3,356) |
| Top 25% | $52k (exactly $52,148) |
| Top 5% | $795k (exactly $795,335) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 100 |
| Released games | 266 |
| Announced | 213 |
| Effort | 5 / 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 up 110% on the market, supply 35% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 12%, 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
- Resource Management
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Wargame, Resource Management; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Simulation, RTS
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Top-Down
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 62% positive over 60,331 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $900. 7 in 10 of the 47 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 213 games are announced against 59 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
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | This War of Mine | older | $19.99 | 81,804 93% | 2.5M | $49M (exactly $49,057,859) | 11 bit studios |
| | Europa Universalis V | $59.99 | 25,353 66% | 761k | $46M (exactly $45,627,794) | Paradox Tinto | |
| | Broken Arrow | $49.99 | 25,924 55% | 778k | $39M (exactly $38,878,223) | Steel Balalaika | |
| | ROMANCE OF THE THREE KINGDOMS XIV | older | $59.99 | 13,086 62% | 393k | $24M (exactly $23,550,874) | KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. |
| | Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIII | older | $59.99 | 5,828 57% | 175k | $10M (exactly $10,488,652) | KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. |
| | Starship Troopers: Terran Command | older | $29.99 | 9,214 87% | 276k | $8.3M (exactly $8,289,836) | The Artistocrats |
| | ROMANCE OF THE THREE KINGDOMS 8 REMAKE | $59.99 | 3,118 49% | 94k | $5.6M (exactly $5,611,465) | KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. | |
| | Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI with Power Up Kit | older | $39.99 | 3,754 92% | 113k | $4.5M (exactly $4,503,674) | KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. |
| | NOBUNAGA'S AMBITION: Awakening | older | $59.99 | 2,320 74% | 70k | $4.2M (exactly $4,175,304) | KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. |
| | Warpips | older | $16.99 | 4,339 87% | 130k | $2.2M (exactly $2,211,588) | Skirmish Mode Games |
| | Empire of the Ants | $39.99 | 931 73% | 28k | $1.1M (exactly $1,116,921) | Tower Five | |
| | KAISERPUNK | $29.99 | 884 71% | 27k | $795k (exactly $795,335) | Overseer Games | |
| | Border Pioneer | $14.99 | 1,675 86% | 50k | $753k (exactly $753,248) | Yahzj Games | |
| | Geo-Political Simulator 5 | $59.99 | 391 34% | 12k | $704k (exactly $703,683) | Eversim | |
| | Mandate Order | · EA | $19.99 | 1,110 81% | 33k | $666k (exactly $665,667) | Digital Sky |
| | The Conquest of Go | $14.99 | 581 94% | 17k | $261k (exactly $261,276) | Wolfey Studios | |
| | Air Defender | · EA | $20.19 | 364 78% | 11k | $220k (exactly $220,475) | ROTOR3 |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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