Do I ship it?

GamesSimulationSimulation + Tennis

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Tennis Simulation game?

Simulation + Tennis

Only 15 developers shipped a Tennis Simulation game 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, Tennis Elbow 4, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 10 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.7k, ×2.7 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $540. Revenue is up 20% on the market; 10 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.7 times the market baseline, revenue up 20% on the market, 10 announced, ×0.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Simulation + Tennis
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 15
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $4.2k → $28k → $16k → $5.3k → $44k → $5.4k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Simulation + Tennis: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 15
Bottom 30% $539 (exactly $539)
Median $1.7k (exactly $1,709)
Top 25% $55k (exactly $55,186)
Top 5% $969k (exactly $968,977)
Developers, 2 yr 15
Released games 59
Announced 10
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $9.99

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 20% on the market, supply 85% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 5%, 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.

Simulation
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Tennis
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Simulation, Tennis; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Sports, Co-op, Immersive Sim
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $39.99 or above
Art
8 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Realistic
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $39.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 87% positive over 3,464 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $540, median $1.7k, 1 in 4 over $55k, 1 in 20 over $960k.

3 in 10 developers made under $540. 9 in 10 of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 10 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + FMVStrong odds150 devs · median $55k · 81 announced
  2. + Escape RoomStrong odds36 devs · median $3.6k · 26 announced
  3. + World War IFair23 devs · median $32k · 32 announced
  4. + Job SimulatorFair285 devs · median $12k · 362 announced
  5. + LGBTQ+Fair272 devs · median $9.7k · 303 announced
  6. + PinballFair27 devs · median $8.2k · 28 announced
  7. + Female ProtagonistFair672 devs · median $5.1k · 754 announced
  8. + BirdsFair19 devs · median $3.8k · 16 announced
  9. + Artificial IntelligenceFair387 devs · median $3.0k · 490 announced
  10. + MusicFair81 devs · median $3.0k · 92 announced
  11. + Auto BattlerFair219 devs · median $2.5k · 293 announced
  12. + ProgrammingFair132 devs · median $2.2k · 174 announced

All 287 pairs on the Simulation page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
AO Tennis 2 older $49.99 1,236 70% 37k $1.9M (exactly $1,853,629) Big Ant Studios
Eleven Table Tennis older $19.99 3,015 94% 90k $1.8M (exactly $1,808,095) For Fun Labs
TopSpin 2K25 older $19.99 2,040 57% 61k $1.2M (exactly $1,223,388) Hangar 13
TIEBREAK – GRAND SLAM EDITION older $49.99 668 76% 20k $1.0M (exactly $1,001,800) Big Ant Studios
Tennis Elbow 4 $29.99 1,077 96% 32k $969k (exactly $968,977) Mana Games
Academy Love Saga: Tennis Angels EX $9.99 1,733 85% 52k $519k (exactly $519,380) Tora Creatives
All-In-One Sports VR older $19.99 700 84% 21k $420k (exactly $419,790) Appnori Inc.
Full Ace Tennis Simulator older $24.99 486 90% 15k $364k (exactly $364,354) Galactic Gaming Guild
Tennis Elbow 2013 older $14.99 673 93% 20k $303k (exactly $302,648) Mana Games
Tennis World Tour older $29.99 325 49% 9.8k $292k (exactly $292,402) Breakpoint
Pure Badminton $19.99 323 81% 9.7k $194k (exactly $193,703) DS SOFT
Tennis Manager 26 $39.99 46 73% 1.4k $55k (exactly $55,186) Rebound
Tennis Manager 25 $19.99 76 68% 2.3k $46k (exactly $45,577) Rebound
Academy Love Saga: Tennis Angels $8.99 163 92% 4.9k $44k (exactly $43,961) Tora Creatives
Absolute Tennis Manager 2 $19.99 9 44% 270 $5.4k (exactly $5,397) ATEMIX
Tennis Fighters $7.99 22 63% 660 $5.3k (exactly $5,273) TDO Games
Coastal Summit Sports: College Athletics 27 $9.99 12 25% 360 $3.6k (exactly $3,596) Coastal Summit Sports
on Titan $18.99 3 100% 90 $1.7k (exactly $1,709) Aleksandr Akimov

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