Games › Tower Defense › Tower Defense + Sci-fi
Should I ship a Sci-fi Tower Defense?
Tower Defense + Sci-fi
Of 195 developers who shipped a Sci-fi 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.. 329 more are announced, ×2.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $600, ×1.3 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $210; 1 in 20 cleared $130k, ×285 the market median. Revenue is down 35% on the market; 329 games are announced against 126 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $210 (exactly $210) |
|---|---|
| Median | $599 (exactly $599) |
| Top 25% | $4.1k (exactly $4,133) |
| Top 5% | $135k (exactly $135,226) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 195 |
| Released games | 518 |
| Announced | 329 |
| Effort | 4 / 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 35% on the market, supply 75% 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.
- Tower Defense
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Sci-fi
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Tower Defense; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Action, Roguelike
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Top-Down, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 81% positive over 12,566 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $210. 8 in 10 of the 82 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 329 games are announced against 126 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Tower Defense with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + DwarvesStrong odds
- + MiningFair
- + Survival HorrorFair
- + CapitalismFair
- + TanksFair
- + MechsFair
- + IdlerFair
- + PuzzleFair
- + Gun CustomizationFair
- + LogicFair
- + On-Rails ShooterFair
- + Psychological HorrorFair
Comparable games
Dome Keeper 2022 · $10M 
Legion TD 2 - Multiplayer Tower Defense 2021 · $9.5M 
Outpost: Infinity Siege 2024 · $8.7M 
Starship Troopers: Terran Command 2022 · $8.3M 
Mindustry 2019 · $7.4M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Dome Keeper | older | $17.99 | 18,976 92% | 569k | $10M (exactly $10,241,347) | Bippinbits |
| | Legion TD 2 - Multiplayer Tower Defense | older | $24.99 | 12,607 86% | 378k | $9.5M (exactly $9,451,468) | AutoAttack Games |
| | Outpost: Infinity Siege | older | $24.99 | 11,636 65% | 349k | $8.7M (exactly $8,723,509) | Team Ranger |
| | Starship Troopers: Terran Command | older | $29.99 | 9,214 87% | 276k | $8.3M (exactly $8,289,836) | The Artistocrats |
| | Mindustry | older | $9.99 | 24,608 95% | 738k | $7.4M (exactly $7,375,018) | AnukenDev |
 | Creeper World 4 | older | $24.99 | 4,553 94% | 137k | $3.4M (exactly $3,413,384) | Knuckle Cracker |
 | Dungeon of the ENDLESS™ | older | $11.99 | 9,419 87% | 283k | $3.4M (exactly $3,388,014) | AMPLITUDE Studios |
 | Sanctum 2 | older | $14.99 | 7,456 92% | 224k | $3.4M (exactly $3,352,963) | Coffee Stain Studios |
 | Tower Dominion | $17.49 | 5,117 85% | 154k | $2.7M (exactly $2,684,890) | Parallel 45 Games | |
 | Wall World | older | $6.99 | 11,353 90% | 341k | $2.4M (exactly $2,380,724) | Alawar |
 | Drill Core | $19.99 | 2,130 84% | 64k | $1.3M (exactly $1,277,361) | Hungry Couch Games | |
 | Wall World 2 | $11.99 | 1,749 73% | 52k | $629k (exactly $629,115) | Alawar | |
 | Creeper World IXE | $19.99 | 855 69% | 26k | $513k (exactly $512,743) | Knuckle Cracker | |
 | Axon TD: Uprising - Tower Defense | $19.99 | 706 85% | 21k | $423k (exactly $423,388) | Element Studios | |
 | Calyx | · EA | $24.99 | 471 88% | 14k | $353k (exactly $353,109) | Studio 568 |
 | IDUN - Frontline Survival | $14.99 | 685 77% | 21k | $308k (exactly $308,044) | IDUN Interactive | |
 | Block Fortress 2 | $19.99 | 264 81% | 7.9k | $158k (exactly $158,321) | Foursaken Media | |
 | Defender's Quest 2: Mists of Ruin | $19.99 | 242 61% | 7.3k | $145k (exactly $145,127) | Level Up Labs, LLC | |
 | Repel The Rifts | · EA | $12.99 | 347 85% | 10k | $135k (exactly $135,226) | RefinedBearGames |
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.