Do I ship it?

Games › Wargame › Wargame + Shoot 'Em Up

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Shoot 'Em Up Wargame?

Wargame + Shoot 'Em Up

Of 26 developers who shipped a Shoot 'Em Up Wargame 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.. 36 more are announced, ×3.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $150 in the last 2 years and $360 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 5 / 10 build. 10 developers shipped in the last year and 36 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.2 times the market baseline, revenue up 30% on the market, 36 announced, ×3.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Wargame + Shoot 'Em Up
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 26
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $748 → $1.8k → $359 → $505 → $59 → $2.1k → $60 (still earning) → $150 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Wargame + Shoot 'Em Up: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 26
Bottom 30% $30 (exactly $30)
Median $150 (exactly $150)
Top 25% $2.1k (exactly $2,096)
Top 5% $21k (exactly $21,333)
Developers, 2 yr 26
Released games 106
Announced 36
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $4.99

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 30% on the market, supply 40% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 10%, 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.

Wargame
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Shoot 'Em Up
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Wargame, Shoot 'Em Up; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Bullet Hell, Shooter
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 78% positive over 1,486 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $50, median $150, 1 in 4 over $2.0k, 1 in 20 over $21k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. 9 in 10 of the 18 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 36 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.6 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Wargame with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Inventory ManagementFair21 devs · median $4.6k · 20 announced
  2. + Local MultiplayerFair28 devs · median $3.0k · 28 announced
  3. + NavalFair37 devs · median $2.4k · 37 announced
  4. + TabletopFair50 devs · median $1.1k · 57 announced
  5. + LogicFair20 devs · median $599 · 26 announced
  6. + Real-Time with PausePoor odds11 devs · median $37k · 24 announced
  7. + Real-TimePoor odds13 devs · median $37k · 17 announced
  8. + Co-opPoor odds43 devs · median $21k · 84 announced
  9. + StealthPoor odds10 devs · median $21k · 39 announced
  10. + DiplomacyPoor odds34 devs · median $17k · 59 announced
  11. + Colony SimPoor odds24 devs · median $16k · 55 announced
  12. + SandboxPoor odds82 devs · median $14k · 142 announced

All 147 pairs on the Wargame page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Badlands Crew - Drive, Command, Conquer 2025 · $641k Multi Turret Academy 2024 · EA · $480k Darwinia 2005 · $281k GW: Legacy 2023 · $61k Vertical Strike Endless Challenge 2017 · $35k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Badlands Crew - Drive, Command, Conquer $18.99 1,126 78% 34k $641k (exactly $641,482) Runner Duck
Multi Turret Academy · EA older $8.99 1,778 95% 53k $480k (exactly $479,527) Yulia Games
Darwinia older $11.99 781 78% 23k $281k (exactly $280,926) Introversion Software
GW: Legacy older $15.99 128 61% 3.8k $61k (exactly $61,402) Alto Interactive
Vertical Strike Endless Challenge older $4.99 232 76% 7.0k $35k (exactly $34,730) Project ICKX
Bees vs Zombees $7.99 89 92% 2.7k $21k (exactly $21,333) DeadPixel
Sexy Iron Maidens $4.99 123 69% 3.7k $18k (exactly $18,413) Earl Marx
Battle of Vukovar: Rain of Steel · EA older $9.99 59 55% 1.8k $18k (exactly $17,682) Cro Game Developers
Beach Invasion 1915-Gallipoli $7.99 73 71% 2.2k $17k (exactly $17,498) AIx2 Games
1917 - The Alien Invasion DX older $4.99 113 71% 3.4k $17k (exactly $16,916) Andrade Games
Eagles of World War 2 $9.99 15 86% 450 $4.5k (exactly $4,496) Paul Connor
Valor 1944 $9.99 14 92% 420 $4.2k (exactly $4,196) Sunroom Games
Strike Mission $4.99 14 42% 420 $2.1k (exactly $2,096) Cube Games
Enemy Engaged: Apache vs Havoc $5.99 6 50% 180 $1.1k (exactly $1,078) Razorworks
Kill Dee $0.99 17 82% 510 $505 (exactly $505) BYE BYE, BUYBYEGames
Deadcave $0.99 9 100% 270 $267 (exactly $267) cnsmini

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