Games › Sandbox › Sandbox + World War II
Should I ship a WWII Sandbox?
Sandbox + World War II
Only 14 developers shipped a WWII Sandbox 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, Ground of Aces, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 13 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $150k, ×232 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $51k. Revenue is up 135% on the market; 13 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $50k (exactly $50,097) |
|---|---|
| Median | $146k (exactly $145,636) |
| Top 25% | $789k (exactly $789,205) |
| Top 5% | $1.3M (exactly $1,273,076) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 14 |
| Released games | 80 |
| Announced | 13 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $19.99 |
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 135% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 14%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Sandbox
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- World War II
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Sandbox; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Building, Simulation, Strategy
- Price point
- $19.99 typical · top 25% priced $49.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $49.99 or above; the middle game at $19.99.
The top 10 games average 82% positive over 7,820 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $51k. 4 in 10 of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 13 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Sandbox with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FightingStrong odds
- + Turn-BasedFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + ProgrammingFair
- + CatsFair
- + SportsFair
- + GamblingFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + Combat RacingFair
- + Trading Card GameFair
- + IdlerFair
- + IncrementalFair
Comparable games
Hearts of Iron IV 2016 · $412M 
Foxhole 2022 · $43M 
UBOAT 2024 · $23M 
Steel Division 2 2019 · $9.7M 
Age of History II 2018 · $8.6M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Hearts of Iron IV | older | $49.99 | 274,901 90% | 8.2M | $412M (exactly $412,269,030) | Paradox Development Studio |
| | Foxhole | older | $29.99 | 47,330 79% | 1.4M | $43M (exactly $42,582,801) | Siege Camp |
| | UBOAT | older | $29.99 | 25,568 83% | 767k | $23M (exactly $23,003,530) | Deep Water Studio |
| | Steel Division 2 | older | $39.99 | 8,061 79% | 242k | $9.7M (exactly $9,670,782) | Eugen Systems |
| | Age of History II | older | $5.99 | 47,614 89% | 1.4M | $8.6M (exactly $8,556,236) | Łukasz Jakowski |
 | Sprocket | · EA older | $19.99 | 12,336 92% | 370k | $7.4M (exactly $7,397,899) | Hamish Dunn |
 | Ultimate Admiral: Dreadnoughts | older | $34.99 | 6,664 62% | 200k | $7.0M (exactly $6,995,201) | Game-Labs |
 | Total Tank Simulator | older | $19.99 | 7,582 81% | 227k | $4.5M (exactly $4,546,925) | Noobz from Poland |
 | Easy Red 2 | older | $8.99 | 14,278 90% | 428k | $3.9M (exactly $3,850,777) | Marco Amadei |
 | Sudden Strike 4 | older | $19.99 | 6,249 78% | 187k | $3.7M (exactly $3,747,525) | Kite Games |
 | Ground of Aces | · EA | $29.99 | 1,415 84% | 42k | $1.3M (exactly $1,273,076) | Blindflug Studios AG |
 | Sudden Strike 5 | $49.99 | 641 75% | 19k | $961k (exactly $961,308) | Kite Games | |
 | KAISERPUNK | $29.99 | 884 71% | 27k | $795k (exactly $795,335) | Overseer Games | |
 | SimplePlanes 2 | · EA | $19.99 | 1,316 92% | 39k | $789k (exactly $789,205) | Jundroo, LLC |
 | Age of History 2: Definitive Edition | $9.99 | 2,600 83% | 78k | $779k (exactly $779,220) | Łukasz Jakowski | |
 | Zombie Army VR | $29.99 | 182 44% | 5.5k | $164k (exactly $163,745) | Rebellion, Xtended Realities | |
 | Osta | $13.99 | 347 87% | 10k | $146k (exactly $145,636) | Cup | |
 | Victory at Sea Atlantic - World War II Naval Warfare | $39.99 | 92 60% | 2.8k | $110k (exactly $110,372) | Evil Twin Artworks | |
 | Ship Explorer | $19.99 | 134 84% | 4.0k | $80k (exactly $80,360) | Turbine Room Studio | |
 | ShipCrafter | · EA | $7.99 | 209 90% | 6.3k | $50k (exactly $50,097) | Myrmecoman |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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