Do I ship it?

Games › Tower Defense › Tower Defense + Robots

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Robot Tower Defense?

Tower Defense + Robots

Of 53 developers who shipped a Robot Tower Defense 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.. 90 more are announced, ×2.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $810, ×1.3 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $100k, ×172 the market median. Revenue is down 50% on the market; 90 games are announced against 37 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.3 times the market baseline, revenue down 50% on the market, 90 announced, ×2.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Tower Defense + Robots
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 53
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $90 → $748 → $2.7k → $1.9k → $1.1k → $178 → $1.5k (still earning) → $300 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Tower Defense + Robots: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 53
Bottom 30% $178 (exactly $178)
Median $809 (exactly $809)
Top 25% $8.4k (exactly $8,392)
Top 5% $108k (exactly $107,973)
Developers, 2 yr 53
Released games 141
Announced 90
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 down 50% on the market, supply 130% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 7%, 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.

Tower Defense
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
Robots
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Tower Defense; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Roguelike, Action
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, 3D, Pixel Graphics
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 88% positive over 2,136 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $180, median $810, 1 in 4 over $8.3k, 1 in 20 over $100k.

3 in 10 developers made under $180. 9 in 10 of the 19 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 90 games are announced against 37 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Tower Defense with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + DwarvesStrong odds10 devs · median $6.7k · 9 announced
  2. + MiningFair33 devs · median $6.3k · 45 announced
  3. + Survival HorrorFair14 devs · median $1.9k · 16 announced
  4. + CapitalismFair15 devs · median $1.6k · 20 announced
  5. + TanksFair14 devs · median $1.5k · 13 announced
  6. + MechsFair24 devs · median $1.5k · 24 announced
  7. + IdlerFair108 devs · median $1.2k · 136 announced
  8. + PuzzleFair64 devs · median $1.0k · 67 announced
  9. + Gun CustomizationFair26 devs · median $958 · 32 announced
  10. + LogicFair40 devs · median $955 · 44 announced
  11. + On-Rails ShooterFair11 devs · median $899 · 12 announced
  12. + Psychological HorrorFair8 devs · median $897 · 8 announced

All 150 pairs on the Tower Defense page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Outpost: Infinity Siege 2024 · $8.7M Taur 2020 · $1.5M Rusted Warfare - RTS 2017 · $991k Axon TD: Uprising - Tower Defense 2024 · $423k Iron Brigade 2012 · $409k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Outpost: Infinity Siege older $24.99 11,636 65% 349k $8.7M (exactly $8,723,509) Team Ranger
Taur older $24.99 2,011 79% 60k $1.5M (exactly $1,507,647) Echo Entertainment
Rusted Warfare - RTS older $4.99 6,619 96% 199k $991k (exactly $990,864) Corroding Games
Axon TD: Uprising - Tower Defense $19.99 706 85% 21k $423k (exactly $423,388) Element Studios
Iron Brigade older $14.99 909 86% 27k $409k (exactly $408,777) Double Fine Productions
Mechs V Kaijus - Tower Defense older $12.99 511 83% 15k $199k (exactly $199,137) Doble Punch Games
Alien Marauder · EA older $19.99 323 60% 9.7k $194k (exactly $193,703) Vexan Studio
Guns n Zombies older $7.99 790 68% 24k $189k (exactly $189,363) Krealit
Variables 2 older $14.99 418 90% 13k $188k (exactly $187,975) Asteroid Game Studio
Siege of Centauri older $14.99 350 64% 11k $157k (exactly $157,395) Stardock Entertainment
Holo vs Robo $6.99 577 97% 17k $121k (exactly $120,997) Pompmaker1
Tech Blast $39.99 90 92% 2.7k $108k (exactly $107,973) Galactic Geckon
Mineral Defense $14.99 220 90% 6.6k $99k (exactly $98,934) Corestone Games
Cyber Tower 2048 $29.99 92 88% 2.8k $83k (exactly $82,772) Galactic Geckon
Ocean Keeper Co-op Drill Multiplayer $5.99 129 75% 3.9k $23k (exactly $23,181) RetroStyle Games
Faun Town $10.99 70 68% 2.1k $23k (exactly $23,079) 游乐坊
Beacon of Neyda $14.99 40 87% 1.2k $18k (exactly $17,988) Ghost Creative Studio
Golemworks $6.99 82 90% 2.5k $17k (exactly $17,195) evilalbert
Ghosts Keep Out $3.99 130 75% 3.9k $16k (exactly $15,561) Only Fun Games

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