Games › Sports › Sports + Roguelike
Should I ship a Roguelike Sports game?
Sports + Roguelike
Of 68 developers who shipped a Roguelike Sports 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.. 73 more are announced.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.6k, ×2.6 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $240; 1 in 20 cleared $290k, ×463 the market median. Revenue is down 90% on the market; 73 games are announced against 47 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $240 (exactly $240) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.6k (exactly $1,615) |
| Top 25% | $15k (exactly $14,840) |
| Top 5% | $291k (exactly $290,854) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 68 |
| Released games | 124 |
| Announced | 73 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 90% on the market, supply 115% 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.
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Sports, Roguelike; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Roguelite, Action Roguelike
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 89% positive over 10,380 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $240. 6 in 10 of the 27 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 73 games are announced against 47 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Sports with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Dynamic NarrationStrong odds
- + CraftingFair
- + Strategy RPGFair
- + SandboxFair
- + Split ScreenFair
- + Dating SimFair
- + Visual NovelFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + FMVFair
- + BikesFair
- + Immersive SimFair
- + Choices MatterFair
Comparable games
UFO 50 2024 · $5.3M 
Tape to Tape 2023 · EA · $2.1M 
NBA THE RUN 2026 · $810k 
Cursed to Golf 2022 · $416k 
Descenders Next 2025 · EA · $350k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | UFO 50 | $24.99 | 7,134 94% | 214k | $5.3M (exactly $5,348,360) | Mossmouth | |
| | Tape to Tape | · EA older | $19.99 | 3,464 92% | 104k | $2.1M (exactly $2,077,361) | Excellent Rectangle |
| | NBA THE RUN | $29.99 | 900 68% | 27k | $810k (exactly $809,730) | Play by Play Studios | |
| | Cursed to Golf | older | $19.99 | 693 70% | 21k | $416k (exactly $415,592) | Chuhai Labs |
| | Descenders Next | · EA | $29.99 | 389 79% | 12k | $350k (exactly $349,983) | RageSquid |
 | Whisker Squadron: Survivor | $19.99 | 485 77% | 15k | $291k (exactly $290,854) | Flippfly LLC | |
 | Helskate | $24.99 | 301 65% | 9.0k | $226k (exactly $225,660) | Phantom Coast | |
 | Bloody Rally Show | older | $19.99 | 248 89% | 7.4k | $149k (exactly $148,726) | Kodo Linija |
 | Golfie | older | $17.99 | 275 66% | 8.3k | $148k (exactly $148,418) | Triheart Studio |
 | Lake of Creatures | $12.49 | 354 92% | 11k | $133k (exactly $132,644) | ANTENNA GAMES | |
 | Drop Pockets | · EA | $14.99 | 243 83% | 7.3k | $109k (exactly $109,277) | Children of Madness |
 | Clutchtime™: Basketball Deckbuilder | $19.99 | 180 77% | 5.4k | $108k (exactly $107,946) | Bigosaur | |
 | Hangtime! | $9.99 | 250 77% | 7.5k | $75k (exactly $74,925) | Leo Langlois | |
 | Squiggle Football | $16.99 | 144 93% | 4.3k | $73k (exactly $73,397) | Max Barry |
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.