Do I ship it?

GamesVehicular CombatVehicular Combat + Sci-fi

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Sci-fi Vehicular Combat game?

Vehicular Combat + Sci-fi

Of 111 developers who shipped a Sci-fi Vehicular Combat 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.. 271 more are announced, ×3.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $600, level with the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $290k, ×471 the market median. Revenue is up 200% on the market; 271 games are announced against 73 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.0 times the market baseline, revenue up 200% on the market, 271 announced, ×3.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Vehicular Combat + Sci-fi
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 111
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $300 → $539 → $899 → $449 → $719 → $599 → $1.1k (still earning) → $449 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Vehicular Combat + Sci-fi: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 111
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $599 (exactly $599)
Top 25% $4.1k (exactly $4,133)
Top 5% $296k (exactly $295,652)
Developers, 2 yr 111
Released games 314
Announced 271
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $8.99

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 200% on the market, supply 85% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 13%, 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.

Vehicular Combat
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Sci-fi
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Vehicular Combat; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Shooter, PvE
Price point
$8.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.

The top 10 games average 82% positive over 16,514 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $150, median $600, 1 in 4 over $4.1k, 1 in 20 over $290k.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 41 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 271 games are announced against 73 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.7 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Vehicular Combat with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Looter ShooterFair11 devs · median $15k · 14 announced
  2. + BuildingPoor odds14 devs · median $303k · 40 announced
  3. + Online Co-OpPoor odds29 devs · median $62k · 75 announced
  4. + Co-opPoor odds38 devs · median $32k · 101 announced
  5. + HistoricalPoor odds16 devs · median $32k · 36 announced
  6. + CraftingPoor odds14 devs · median $20k · 43 announced
  7. + Open WorldPoor odds45 devs · median $15k · 97 announced
  8. + ManagementPoor odds21 devs · median $13k · 36 announced
  9. + SandboxPoor odds25 devs · median $10k · 70 announced
  10. + Real Time TacticsPoor odds20 devs · median $9.6k · 50 announced
  11. + ModernPoor odds18 devs · median $8.6k · 25 announced
  12. + MechsPoor odds24 devs · median $4.8k · 52 announced

All 98 pairs on the Vehicular Combat page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
ARMORED CORE™ VI FIRES OF RUBICON™ older $59.99 66,987 91% 2.0M $121M (exactly $120,556,504) FromSoftware, Inc.
STAR WARS™ Battlefront™ II older $39.99 87,494 88% 2.6M $105M (exactly $104,966,552) DICE
RAGE 2 older $39.99 14,019 64% 421k $17M (exactly $16,818,594) id Software, Avalanche Studios
Avorion older $24.99 13,001 90% 390k $9.7M (exactly $9,746,850) Boxelware
John Carpenter's Toxic Commando $39.99 6,274 72% 188k $7.5M (exactly $7,526,918) Saber Interactive
Brigador: Up-Armored Edition older $24.99 4,580 93% 137k $3.4M (exactly $3,433,626) Stellar Jockeys, Gausswerks
GRIP: Combat Racing older $29.99 3,669 86% 110k $3.3M (exactly $3,300,999) Caged Element
STAR WARS™ Battlefront older $19.99 5,190 79% 156k $3.1M (exactly $3,112,443) DICE
Silica · EA older $19.99 4,468 77% 134k $2.7M (exactly $2,679,460) Martin 'Dram' Melichárek
Beyond Citadel $14.99 4,417 96% 133k $2.0M (exactly $1,986,325) doekuramori
TerraTech Legion $9.99 2,109 81% 63k $632k (exactly $632,067) Payload Studios
IRON REBELLION $24.99 772 84% 23k $579k (exactly $578,768) Black Beach Studio
Brigador Killers · EA $24.99 572 69% 17k $429k (exactly $428,828) Stellar Jockeys, Gausswerks
Warhammer 40,000: Speed Freeks $19.99 493 85% 15k $296k (exactly $295,652) Caged Element
Space Reign $19.99 444 72% 13k $266k (exactly $266,267) Propulsive Games
Mech Havoc · EA $9.99 813 96% 24k $244k (exactly $243,656) Mid Development
G-Rebels · EA $29.99 254 79% 7.6k $229k (exactly $228,524) Reakktor Studios
Drone Sector · EA $16.99 366 89% 11k $187k (exactly $186,550) Icosphere

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